Ajith Silva

E-mail:  lasilva@epi.umaryland.edu
Division:  Undergraduate Adelphi
Category:  Collegiate
Program:  Gerontology

Biography

Ajith Silva, PhD is a collegiate professor at The Undergraduate School at UMUC. He received his PhD in gerontology from the University of Massachusetts and post-doctoral training in the epidemiology of aging at the School of Medicine, University of Maryland. Prior to joining UMUC, he was a research health scientist in the Division of Outcomes Research, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Dr. Silva also teaches in the doctoral program in gerontology at UMAB/UMBC. His courses include Economics of Aging, Advanced Research Methods and Evaluation Techniques, Sociological Methods, Medical Sociology (UMBC, and the doctoral program in gerontology), sociology, and gerontology (at UMUC). He has served in a number of faculty committees while at UMAB and UMBC.

Dr. Silva specializes on issues related to risk-adjustment, long-term care, managed care, health care financing, Medicare/Medicaid, and health outcomes. He has extensive experience in working with Medicare/Medicaid, MDS, and MCBS data. Dr. Silva has published a number of articles related to long-term care. He is a regular presenter at the Gerontological Society of America's Annual Scientific Meetings. His current research includes volume-outcome relationships in hip fracture surgery, veterans with multiple sclerosis, and dementia in nursing homes.

Nomination Essay

The main reason for seeking nomination is because I believe that my previous experience with other academic settings and programs will help me to make a useful contribution towards issues affecting faculty at UMUC. I have served in a number of academic committees in the University of Maryland system prior to joining UMUC. Among others, I have contributed substantially to the development of the gerontology doctoral program at UMBC/UMAB through my participation in socio-cultural, social policy and epidemiology sub-committees. Since faculty play a vital role in UMUC, it is important to understand and address their concerns to the best extent possible. I am happy to volunteer my time for that.