Former assistant professor in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery Courtney Balentine, M.D., MPH, recently presented his research on Virtual Acute Care for Elders at the American Geriatrics Society’s 2019 meeting, where he was also named one of the recipients of this year’s AGS Jeffrey H. Silverstein Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in the Surgical and Related Medical Specialties.

The research Balentine presented at last month’s AGS Annual Scientific Meeting, held May 2-4 in Portland, Oregon – “An Implementation Assessment of the Virtual Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Program,” which he co-authored with Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery faculty Melanie Morris, M.D., and Gregory Kennedy, M.D., Ph.D. – is the first formal implementation evaluation of the Virtual ACE platform’s application in surgery. According to the AGS, Balentine was named one of the winners of the 2019 Silverstein award for his research on improving understanding of Virtual ACE’s impact on hospital staff and older patients.

Wake Forest’s Candace Yvonne Parker-Autry, M.D., was also named a recipient of this year’s Silverstein award at the AGS meeting, alongside Balentine. As the winners of the Silverstein award, Balentine and Parker-Autry each received $2,000 to help pay for travel expenses associated with attending the meeting.

Balentine has received consistent recognition for his Virtual ACE research throughout his career, including during his time at UAB. Although he joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern last year, he still holds a voluntary faculty appointment in the UAB Department of Surgery and serves as a member of the UAB Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship.

View Balentine's presentation on his award-winning research.