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Mason F. Lord Professorship in Geriatric Medicine

School of Medicine

Established in 1996 by an anonymous donor in memory of Mason F. Lord

LordMasonMASON F. LORD, Med 1954, recognized as one of the fathers of geriatric medicine, was the first full-time chief of the Geriatrics Program at the Baltimore City Hospitals, now the Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Prior to his untimely death in 1965 at the age of 39, Dr. Lord laid the foundation for a comprehensive and long-term geriatrics program, providing a continuum of care to the chronically ill. It was a revolutionary concept at a time when the chronic hospital was essentially a place to keep the elderly patient until death. Today, the program he outlined is considered a national model.

Held by Cynthia Boyd

Dr. CYNTHIA BOYD is professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Boyd is the director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. She holds a joint appointment in health policy and management and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Boyd is a core faculty member at the Center for Transformative Geriatric ResearchJohns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health and the Roger and Flo Lipitz Center to Advance Policy in Aging and Disability.

A former Robert Wood Johnson Physician Faculty Scholar and a Beeson Scholar, Dr. Boyd is trained in internal medicine, geriatric medicine and epidemiology. Dr. Boyd’s career has focused on improving the health and well-being of older adults with multiple chronic conditions, with robust research and mentoring programs that have helped launch the careers of multiple junior faculty, fellows, medical students and other learners.

She earned her M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine and her M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and performed a fellowship in geriatric medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Dr. Boyd has been recognized with several honors, including the American Geriatric Society’s Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award, election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and Fellowship in the American College of Physicians and the American Geriatric Society.  Her research has been funded by the NIH, AHRQ, PCORI, and foundations.