Director

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Robert S. Schwartz, M.D., was recruited to the University of Colorado Denver in July 1999 as the new Head of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Goodstein Professor of Medicine.

Dr. Schwartz graduated from the Ohio State University Medical School in 1974 and completed his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Washington Medical Center in 1977. In 1980,he completed a Fellowship in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, Nutrition and Gerontology at the University of Washington Medical Center, where he studied fat metabolism, obesity, and exercise.

He was recruited to the Endocrinology and Metabolism Section of the University of Vermont in 1980, and continued to investigate the effects of diet and exercise on fat and carbohydrate metabolism. From there, he returned to the University of Washington in geriatric medicine, where he served as Assistant Professor (1983-1987), Associate Professor (1987-1995), and Professor (1995-1999). From 1983-1988, Dr. Schwartz was Chief of the Geriatric Medicine Section at the Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center, where he initiated the GEM service as well as the fellowship program.

At Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, he served as Co-Director of the Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine Fellowship program, Director of the University of Washington Exercise Physiology & Training Center, and Coordinator of the Aging and Elderly CME. He also participated on the Executive Committee of the Clinical Nutrition Research Unit and the Scientific Advisory Committee for the General Clinical Research Center.

Dr. Schwartz's present research explores several areas related to nutrition and exercise training in the elderly. These include: the effect of exercise training and/or dietary weight loss on body fat distribution and the relationship to the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity and aging; the potential importance of growth factors with and without exercise on strength, endurance, function, and body composition in older individuals; and the mechanisms, incidence, and clinical importance of anorexia and involuntary weight loss in the elderly.

Dr. Schwartz has been included in both the National and Regional Editions of "Best Doctors in America" since 1992. He serves on several national committees, including the Institute of Medicine Nutritional Services for Medicare Beneficiaries Committee, the American Heart Association National Nutrition Committee, the AGS/AFAR Grant Review Committee, and the Western Society for Clinical Investigation. He was a member of the Geriatric and Rehabilitation Medicine Study Section from its inception. He participates on editorial boards for the Journal of Gerontology, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Diabetes Care.