Dr. Emiel Hoogendijk, assistant professor at the Department of Epidemiology & Data Science and manager of the Amsterdam Cohort Hub, has been appointed as chair of a new Lancet Commission on Frailty. Commissions are international, multidisciplinary collaborations to address pressing issues in medicine and global health, which lead to a report that will be published in The Lancet.
This week, The Lancet announced the launch of a new Commission, aimed at reorienting frailty in clinical practice, public health and policy. Together with Dr. Elsa Dent from Bond University in Australia, APH researcher Emiel Hoogendijk will chair this Commission, which further consists of 20 renowned scientists from across the world.
Clinically, frailty is defined as a state of vulnerability towards adverse outcomes, resulting from progressive physiological declines across multiple organ systems. It is one of the main geriatric syndromes in older adults and a major determinant of functional disability. However, the condition is poorly understood, and that is why this Commission has been established with the aim “to globally reorient health care and public policy to prevent the development and progression of frailty across the life-course, and to improve access to high-value, evidence-based care for older adults with frailty.”