About the Network
The purpose of the Global Frailty Network is to exchange and share evidence-based practices and research advances about all aspects of frailty.
Health care professionals (geriatric medicine staff and other specialists interested in frailty), researchers, policy experts, trainees and organizations are welcomed to join the Network.
Membership Benefits
Membership is free, join the network.
Networking
Network with international experts and access our member directory.
Projects
Participate in projects.
Webinars
Free registration for webinars.
Resources
Access an online library of educational program content.
Steering Committee
Carmen Castillo Gallego, MD, PhD
Dr. Carmen Castillo Gallego received her medical degree from the University of Granada, Faculty of Medicine, Spain, in 2000. After moving to the USA in 2003, she completed internal medicine residency training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, followed by a geriatric medicine fellowship at the Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miami program in 2007. During her fellowship she developed a passion for the study of physical frailty in older adults. After returning to her native Spain in 2009, she joined as an attending physician the Geriatric Department of the Complejo Hospitalario of Toledo. Over there, she further developed her research career as an investigator in the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging, a longitudinal population-based study, aiming to evaluate the determinants of frailty in individuals older than 65 years old. Dr. Castillo obtained her PhD in 2015 at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid with a thesis about body composition and its influence in muscular strength and frailty. She is involved in mentoring and teaching geriatric residents and has published several peer-reviewed papers on the topic of frailty in older adults.
Gustavo Duque, MD, PhD, FRACP, FGSA
Professor Duque is a geriatrician and clinical and biomedical researcher with a particular interest in osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and frailty in older persons. He is the Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine at McGill University and Principal Investigator at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. He is also the Director of the RUISSS McGill Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health of Seniors/ Simone & Edouard Schouela in Montreal (Canada). Professor Duque's research focuses on the interactions between bone, muscle, and fat and the elucidation of common mechanisms and pathways associated with the pathophysiology of osteoporosis, sarcopenia, osteosarcopenia, and frailty in older persons. He is also looking at the effect of vitamin D, exercise, and nutrition on bone and muscle mass while developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to age-related musculoskeletal diseases.
Sara E. Espinoza, MD, MsC
Dr. Espinoza is Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology & Palliative Medicine, and a core faculty member in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity & Aging Studies at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is Co-Director and Leader of the Clinical Core of the San Antonio Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. She is also Director of the Geriatrics Research, Education & Clinical Center at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System. Dr. Espinoza’s research focuses on understanding frailty and sarcopenia in older adults, through epidemiologic and clinical translational research, including clinical trials. She is an active clinician and cares for older veterans at Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital through outpatient geriatric evaluation and management, where she precepts medical students, residents, and fellows.
Jorge G. Ruiz, MD
Dr. Ruiz is Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; and Associate Director for Clinical Innovation, and senior investigator at the Miami VA Healthcare System Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC). Dr Ruiz is a fellowship-trained geriatrician, board certified in internal medicine, and geriatric medicine. He is the newly appointed Chair of the ABIM’s Geriatric Medicine Board and member of the Internal Medicine Council of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Ruiz directs the Veterans’ Successful Aging for Frail Elders (VSAFE) program. This care model targets high risk, high need older Veterans with frailty and includes frailty clinics, exercise and physical activity programs, care coordination, and population management. His research interests include the use of mesenchymal stem cell therapies for the treatment of aging frailty and Alzheimer’s disease; the study of risk factors for aging frailty among older Veterans; the development and implementation of care models that aim to reduce the burden of aging frailty and dementia in older Veterans; and dementia prevention. Dr. Ruiz serves as the chief editor of the Journal of Nutrition, Health, and Aging (IF: 5.285) and has authored several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters in the fields of aging, longevity, and geriatric medicine.
Tania Tello Rodríguez, MD, MS
Tania Tello Rodríguez is a graduate of the National University of San Marcos, Lima, Perú (1995-2002). She completed a geriatric medicine residency (2005-2009) followed by a master’s degree in Geriatrics and Gerontology (2009-2010) at the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University. Since 2009, Dr. Tello has worked as an attending geriatrician and faculty member at the Cayetano Heredia University Hospital in Lima-Perú, reaching the academic rank of Associate Professor and becoming Director of the Gerontological Institute at the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Faculty of Medicine (2011-current). Dr. Tello is also coordinator of the master’s degree program in Geriatrics and Gerontology at the same University. She is an active member and Past President (2017-2019) of the Geriatrics Peruvian Society, member of the Latin American Academy of Medicine for Older Adults (ALMA), member of the Older Adult Stage Experts Committee and the Consultative Committee of Immunizations, Health Ministry of Perú (2017-current) where she lends her expertise on aging issues to these Government institutions. Dr. Tello is a qualified researcher of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONCYTEC) “María Rostworowski I” in Perú. She has published several articles and abstracts in national and international journals and national books about frailty, sarcopenia, gait speed, multi-morbidity, chronic diseases, and immunosenescence.
Olga Theou, PhD
Dr. Theou is the Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity, Mobility, and Healthy Aging. She is an Assistant Professor of Physiotherapy and Geriatric Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is also an Affiliated Scientist of Geriatric Medicine with the Nova Scotia Health and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer of Medicine with the University of Adelaide in Australia. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Aristotle University in Greece, Master of Science in Gerokinesiology from the California State University in Fullerton, and PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences with specialization in Health and Aging from Western University in Canada. Her research interests include aging, frailty, and physical activity.