Thomas M. Gill, M.D.

• Professor of Medicine, Section of Geriatric Medicine, Epidemiology & Investigative Medicine
• Co-Director of the Yale Program on Aging
• Co- Director of the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center
• Director, Research Career Development Core, Pepper Center
• Co-Director, Yale Fellowship in Geriatric Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology
  
• BA, Loyola University, 1983
• BS, Loyola University, 1985
• MD, University of Chicago, 1987
• Residency: University of Washington
• Fellowship: Yale University
  

Research Interests

Dr. Gill's research is directed towards understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of functional decline and disability among community-living older persons and towards developing preventive strategies to forestall the onset and progression of disability among at-risk elders who are frail. The results from the Yale Precipitating Events Project (PEP), Dr. Gill's ongoing NIA-funded cohort study, which includes monthly assessments of functional status for over nine years, are revolutionizing our understanding of disability, a problem of immense importance to older persons, their families, and society. In a landmark clinical trial, Dr. Gill's research group has demonstrated that functional decline among frail older persons can be prevented through a prehabilitation program targeting underlying impairments in physical capabilities.

Dr. Gill's other research interests include: (1) the epidemiology and
prevention of bathing disability; and (2) the epidemiology of frailty.  Future research will be aimed at the development and testing of two strategies to restore independent bathing among community-living older persons and a multi-site clinical trial to prevent mobility disability.

Selected Publications

1. Gill TM, Feinstein AR. A Critical Appraisal of the Quality of Quality-of-Life Measurements. JAMA 1994; 272:619-626.
2. Gill TM, Williams CS, Tinetti ME. Assessing Risk for the Onset of Functional Dependence Among Older Adults: the Role of Physical Performance. J Am Geriatr Soc 1995; 43:603-609.
3. Gill TM, Robison JT, Tinetti ME. Difficulty and Dependence: Two Components of the Disability Continuum Among Community-living Older Persons. Ann Intern Med 1998; 128:96-101.
4. Gill TM, Williams CS, Tinetti ME. The Combined Effects of Baseline Vulnerability and Acute Hospital Events on the Development of Functional Dependence Among Community-living Older Persons. J Gerontol Med Sci 1999; 54A:M377-M383.
5. Gill TM, DiPietro L, Krumholz HM. Role of Exercise Stress Testing and Safety Monitoring for Older Persons Starting an Exercise Program. JAMA 2000; 284:342-349.
6. Gill TM, Williams CS, Tinetti ME. Environmental Hazards and the Risk of Falls in the Homes of Community-living Older Americans. Med Care 2000; 38:1174-1183.
7. Gill TM, Desai MM, Gahbauer EA, Holford TR, Williams CS. Restricted activity among community-living older persons: incidence, precipitants, and health care utilization. Ann Intern Med 2001; 135:313-21.
8. Gill TM, Hardy SE, Williams CS. Underestimation of Disability among Community-living Older Persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 2002 ; 50:1492-1497.
9. Gill TM, Baker DI, Gottschalk M, Peduzzi PN, Allore H, Byers A. A Program to Prevent Functional Decline in Physically Frail Elderly Persons Who Live at Home. N Engl J Med 2002; 347:1068-1074.
10. Gill TM, Kurland B. The Burden and Patterns of ADL Disability Among Community-living Older Persons. J Gerontol Med Sci 2003; 58A:M70-M75.
11. Gill TM, Kurland B. The Prognostic Effect of Prior Disability Episodes Among Nondisabled Community-living Older Persons. Am J Epidemiol 2003; 158:1090-1096
12. Hardy SE, Gill TM.  Recovery from Disability Among Community-Dwelling Older Persons. JAMA 2004; 291:1596-1602.
13. Gill TM, Allore H, Holford TR, Guo Z.  The Development of Insidious Disability in Activities of Daily Living Among Community-living Older Persons. Am J Med 2004;117:484-491.
14. Gill TM, Allore HG, Holford TR, Guo Z.  Hospitalization, Restricted Activity, and the Development of Disability Among Older Persons. JAMA 2004;292:2115-2124.
15. Naik AD, Concato J, Gill TM.  Bathing Disability in Community-living Older Persons: Common, Consequential and Complex. J Am Geriatr Soc 2004;52:1805-1810.
16. Hardy SE, Gill TM.  Factors Associated with Recovery of Independence among Newly Disabled Older Persons. Arch Intern Med 2005;165:106-112.
17. Hardy SE, Dubin JA, Holford TR, Gill TM.  Transitions between States of Disability and Independence among Older Persons. Am J Epidemiol 2005;161:575-584.
18. Naik AD, Gill TM. Underutilization of Environmental Adaptations for Bathing Among Community-living Older Persons with Bathing Disability. J Am Geriatr Soc 2005; 53:1497-1503.
19. Gill TM, Gahbauer EA. Overestimation of Chronic Disability Among Elderly Persons. Arch Intern Med 2005; 165:2625-2630.
20. Gill TM, Allore HG, Hardy SE, Guo Z. The Dynamic Nature of Mobility Disability Among Older Persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006; 54:248-254.
21. Gill TM, Gahbauer EA, Allore HG, Han L. Transitions Between Frailty States Among Community-living Older Persons. Arch Intern Med 2006; 166:418-423.
22. Gill TM , Allore HG, Han L. Bathing Disability and the Risk of Long-Term Admission to a Nursing Home. J Gerontol Med Sci 2006;61A:821-825
23. Gill TM , Guo Z, Allore HG. The Epidemiology of Bathing Disability. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006; 54:1524-1530.
24. Gill TM , Han L, Allore HG. Predisposing Factors and Precipitants for Bathing Disability among Older Persons. J Am Geriatr Soc 2007; 55:534-540.