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SC Recruits Top Expert in Geriatrics as CoEE Endowed Chair

Internationally renowned scientist named as Endowed Chair for SeniorSMART® Center of Economic Excellence at USC, brings new company to South Carolina.

With life expectancies increasing and baby boomers aging, the number of Americans 65 and older will make up an impressive 21 percent of the U.S. population by 2050, totaling 86.7 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This dramatic increase will present challenges to the physical and financial infrastructure of South Carolina and the nation.

To address these challenges by helping older adults remain healthy and independent, The University of South Carolina (USC) has recruited one of the leading experts on geriatrics and aging. Dr. Sue Levkoff, who previously worked at Harvard University, has been named the CoEE Endowed Chair in Community and Social Support—SmartHOME® at the SeniorSMART® Center of Economic Excellence (CoEE).

SeniorSMART® combines the strengths of the state’s major research institutions, three of the state’s largest hospital and health systems, and industry collaborators. Together, this team is conducting groundbreaking research that is leading to products that help seniors maintain their brain health (SMARTBrain™), driving independence (SMARTWheels®), and independence in the home (SMARTHome®). Levkoff will lead the SmartHOME® component of SeniorSMART®.

SeniorSMART® was created through the state’s CoEE Program. Health Sciences South Carolina and its supporting organizations have invested $2 million in this center. Partners working together on this important effort include: the University of South Carolina (lead), Palmetto Health, Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center. Major support also has come from Columbia philanthropist Charlton Hall.

Levkoff’s work will focus on developing technologies that will enable older adults to remain at home in the community with adequate supports, both for them and their caregivers. She has received sizable federal grants for her research from agencies including the National Institute on Aging, the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, as well as from foundations including the Alzheimer’s Association. Even before starting her full-time appointment at USC, she has been active in assisting Director of SmartHOME® Dr. Victor Hirth and Assistant Director of SeniorSMART® Dr. Debra E. Krotish, USC faculty members, in their application for federal research dollars to further develop and test their monitoring system to be used in individual homes or care facilities to detect falls and alert caregivers to decrease response times.

Levkoff is also bringing a health care technology company to the state. Her firm, Environment and Health, will open a new location in Columbia and Dr. Levkoff’s vision is that it will attract knowledge-based jobs to the Midlands as the company grows. The company is developing several health information technology products, including one to create an online community for Latino family members caring for a loved one with dementia, and another for Chinese dementia caregivers. Dr. Levkoff believes that these products have enormous potential to be marketed both nationally and internationally. The company is also developing a health-risk appraisal tool, along with a coaching platform, which is designed to enhance positive health behaviors of working adults ages 54-65. The company hopes to test this product in South Carolina.

Levkoff was born and raised in South Carolina. Although she has lived outside of the state for more than 30 years, she considers herself a South Carolinian and is eager to “come home.”

“I am excited to come back and give back to the state,” Levkoff says. “I see this as a huge opportunity to see my research, and the research of my USC colleagues, translate into products that can enhance the well-being of older adults and the people who care for them.

Levkoff also says that the state’s CoEE Program played a major part in her decision to return to South Carolina.

“What is happening in South Carolina due to the CoEE Program shows great vision and understanding that no single sector can do it alone. No one sector has the scientific knowledge, technical expertise and business savvy to develop meaningful products and get them to the people who need them. Only by coming together—academia, health care systems, government and the business community—can we fully understand the needs of older adults and bring innovative ideas to the marketplace.”

Before coming to South Carolina, Levkoff was an associate professor in the Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) Department of Psychiatry, with secondary appointments in the HMS Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, as well as the Department of Medicine’s Connors Center of Psychiatry, and of Women’s Health. She has authored or edited 5 books, contributed to 16 books and 80 journal articles, and is a frequent presenter at aging conferences both stateside and internationally. She is the editor of Ageing International.