Rachel Michelle Skains, MD, MSPH

President-Elect

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

I am honored to be considered for the position of President-Elect of the SAEM Academy of Geriatric Emergency Medicine (AGEM). I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a joint appointment at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. I earned my MD from Wake Forest School of Medicine, completed my Emergency Medicine Residency at UAB, and received my MSPH in Clinical and Translational Science from the UAB School of Public Health, followed by an AHRQ T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Services, Outcomes, and Effectiveness Research.

My NIH-funded research program focuses on medication safety, delirium, and cognitive outcomes among older adults in the ED, supported by a NIA GEMSSTAR R03, R21, and multiple pilot awards, with a K23 under review. Within AGEM, I currently serve as Member-at-Large (2024-Present), Chair of the AGEM Grants and Awards Subcommittee (2023-2025), and Chair of the Medication Safety Workgroup for the national Geriatric ED Guidelines 2.0 update (2021-Present). I also chaired the ACEP Expert Consensus Group on Geriatric High-Risk Prescriptions for the CEDR Quality Measure, served as the first Fellow on the ACEP Geriatric Emergency Medicine Section (GEMS) Executive Board, and currently serve as a member of the National VA Geriatric ED Core Committee.

I am running for President-Elect to help advance the visibility, mentorship, and scholarly impact of geriatric emergency medicine within SAEM and beyond. My goals include expanding opportunities for early-career investigators, strengthening interdisciplinary collaborations, and promoting equity and innovation in research and clinical care for older adults.

I am deeply proud of the community AGEM has built—one that values excellence, mentorship, and collaboration. If elected, I will work to ensure AGEM continues to lead national efforts in advancing education, research, and implementation of evidence-based geriatric emergency care.

Angel Li, MD

Secretary

The Ohio State University

I am an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at The Ohio State University, a dedicated advocate for geriatric emergency care, and a candidate for Secretary of SAEM’s Academy of Geriatric Emergency Medicine (AGEM).

My passion for improving care for older adults has guided my national leadership roles with SAEM and ACEP. I have served on the AGEM Executive Committee, contributed to curriculum development, and helped lead initiatives that advance geriatric focused education and policy. At Ohio State, I lead the Hospital Care at Home initiative in the emergency department, focusing on safe transitions for geriatric patients. As Medical Director of our ED based observation unit, I have worked to expand care pathways that reduce unnecessary admissions while maintaining safety and dignity. I also helped initiate the first ACEP policy efforts focused specifically on geriatric emergency medicine, aiming to embed age-friendly principles into national standards. Recently, I collaborated with AWAEM to co-lead a national webinar on career longevity in emergency medicine and published a Pulse article highlighting strategies to sustain meaningful careers in the field.

My involvement with AGEM has been a cornerstone of my academic journey. I am running for Secretary to continue advancing AGEM’s mission by supporting high quality education, promoting impactful research, and building a strong community of advocates committed to improving emergency care for older adults.

Surriya Colleen Ahmad, MD

Treasurer

New York City

I graduated from Emory University. I received my MD from University of Louisville. I completed my combined EM/IM residency at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University & Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn. I completed my GEM Fellowship at Weill Cornell/NYP Hospital in NYC. I am double board certified in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine.

I have been a member of SAEM and AGEM for six years. I served on the AGEM Executive Committee as Member At Large 2021-2022, Treasurer 2022-2023, Secretary 2023-2024, and 2024-2025.
While part of AGEM and the EC, I have carved a niche in webinar development and planning. I co-founded/hosted the Leaders in GEM webinar with the aim of generating early interest in GEM amongst medical students and residents and helping to connect them with mentors. I also created the Geriatric Mental Health and Wellness/Wellbeing Collaborative Webinar Series between AGEM and the Psychological & Behavioral Interest Group and the first webinar was on AMS/Delirium and Managing Geriatric Agitation in the ED, while the second one is in the works on Loneliness and Social Isolation.

Between taking care of patients in both public and private inner-city Level 1 Trauma Centers, tertiary care centers, and community hospitals over the last nine years, and having an octogenarian father and nonagenarian grandmother who I have watched navigate the sometimes treacherous walls of an ED from the lens of a patient their age, I remained interested in how we can best optimize the care of older adults in the ED.

I am running for Treasurer because I really enjoyed this position, and I have a passion for older adults and for AGEM and SAEM and I want to continue to serve its members and collaborate with other leaders with a similar passion of providing the best care possible to older adults via this organization.

Murat Çetin, MD

Member-at-Large

Dr. Behcet Uz Child Disease and Pediatric Surgery Training and Research Hospital

I specialize in emergency medicine, with a particular focus on research aimed at enhancing the emergency care provided to older adults. I leverage innovation, education, and evidence-based practices as tools to fulfill this role. After completing my Emergency Medicine residency at Dokuz Eylul University in Türkiye, I augmented my training with clinical research as well as artificial intelligence and systems improvement to emergency care. My present work involves technology and team-based approaches to the diagnosis, pain control, and distress of older adults with complex acute illnesses. I established the EMAT Geriatric Emergency Medicine working group and have been a reviewer and collaborator on numerous other academic initiatives. I hold Geriatric Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group membership with the International Federation of Emergency Medicine (IFEM), facilitating international discussions on the harmonization of emergency care and education for older adults. These roles have deepened my resolve on the integration of research, education, and practice on clinical care aimed at older adults. I seek an AGEM office for the purposes of advancing our goal of enhancing primary emergency care for elders through mentorship, collaboration, and global initiatives. I will focus on developing mentorship for fledgling faculty to foster cross-institution research in aging and technology, and sponsoring educational programs aimed at embedding geriatric competencies in residency training.

David W. Hancock, PhD

Member-at-Large

Weill Cornell Medicine

I hold a PhD in Experimental Social Psychology and am an NIH-funded researcher focused on aging and emergency medicine. My program of research examines older adult injury prevention, with particular emphasis on elder mistreatment, suicide, and outcomes in prehospital and emergency care. At Weill Cornell Medicine, I collaborate with geriatricians, emergency physicians, and data scientists to advance evidence-based approaches that improve the care of older adults across emergency settings.

Within SAEM, I have been an active member of the community. I have served on the AGEM Grants and Awards Committee for the past two years, helping to support and recognize scholarship in geriatric emergency medicine. In addition, I am engaged with the SAEM Research Committee and the Informatics, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence Interest Group, where I contribute to advancing methodological and analytic innovations relevant to emergency medicine research.

I am running for office because I believe that geriatric emergency medicine must remain a priority within SAEM. Our specialty is at the forefront of caring for an aging population, and we must continue to build a strong network of researchers, educators, and clinicians who are committed to this work. If elected, I will work to strengthen connections across members, promote mentorship and training opportunities, and raise the visibility of geriatric-focused research and clinical innovation. I am especially committed to engaging trainees and early-career faculty, ensuring that the importance of geriatric emergency medicine is recognized across both research and clinical domains.

Sara Hurley, MD

Member-at-Large

The Ohio State University

I am a third-year emergency medicine resident at the Ohio State University, and I am planning on entering a geriatric emergency medicine fellowship next year. I graduated from medical school at Johns Hopkins University in 2023, where my interest for geriatric emergency medicine was first sparked. As a resident, I have carried out a variety of research on geriatric emergency medicine. I currently have a SAEM foundation grant for research focusing on identifying radiographic biomarkers of elder abuse in the emergency department. I also served as AGEM Resident Representative during my third year in residency, where I was lucky enough to work with and learn from physicians who share my passion for geriatric emergency medicine. As I transition out of residency into the next chapter, I hope to remain part of the Executive Committee as Member-at-Large and continue to serve the geriatric emergency medicine community.

Mattie Harris

Resident Representative

Wake Forest University School of Medicine

My name is Mattie Harris, and I am a current MS4 at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. I am currently applying as a resident for emergency medicine and will be starting residency in July 2026. I have been a member of SAEM for 2 years and presented at the 2024 conference. I have always had a desire to pursue geriatric medicine in some capacity as it is one of my passions. I have worked as a memory care caregiver since middle school, and it has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Serving on this committee would allow me to combine my passion for emergency medicine and geriatrics. My desire is to make a difference in the world of geriatric emergency medicine and to make emergency departments more geriatric friendly through education, research, and collaborative opportunities. I would use this platform to raise awareness for geriatric emergency medicine and to serve alongside those who share this passion with me. I would place an emphasis on my fellow residents as this is often an overlooked field of emergency medicine to which we are not provided much exposure. Another goal of mine is to help find ways to support the caregivers of elderly patients within the emergency department. I would love to be able to send caregivers home with resources that offer physical and emotional support.

Erin Hunt

Medical Student Representative

The Ohio State University

My name is Erin Hunt, and I am a third-year medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. I am seeking re-election as the medical student representative for AGEM because I am passionate about Emergency Medicine and learning how to better serve our geriatric patients. Over the past two years as AGEM's medical student representative, I have gained valuable knowledge and leadership experience that I believe will help me serve AGEM in the upcoming year. If re-elected, I would like to continue expanding AGEM's outreach via social media and make our members more aware of the opportunities that AGEM provides. I would also like to collaborate more with RAMS to increase medical student and resident engagement with the AGEM community.