Rachel Skains, MD, MSPH

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine (DEM) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a joint faculty appointment at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (BVAMC). I am an early-stage investigator focused on improving the acute care of older adults through patient-centered outcomes research, specifically on delirium and medication safety. I was awarded the AHRQ NRSA T32 Postdoctoral Scholar Fellowship (2020-2022), in addition to funding through the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research (ICAR) to examine the risk of delirium with opioid use among older adults in the ED and validate the nursing delirium screening scale (NuDESC) in the ED. Further, I completed the UAB Geriatric Scholar Interprofessional Program from 2019-2021 and attended the 2021 Network for Investigation of Delirium: Unifying Scientists (NIDUS) Bootcamp that both provided interdisciplinary geriatric educational sessions and specialty training in delirium. I have recently been awarded two NIA awards: Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists' Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) R03 (2023-2025) to evaluate the risk factors and time course of incident delirium among older adults in the ED and Exploratory/ Developmental Grant R21 (2023-2025) for comprehensive assessment of delirium risk due to medications. Furthermore, I am an ED physician champion for the UAB – Highlands and BVAMC Geriatric ED Committees, which received Level 1 (2021) and Level 3 (2023) accreditations respectively, served as Fellow board member for the Geriatric EM Section of ACEP (2021-2023) and currently Chair of the AGEM Grants & Awards Subcommittee (2023-Present). Finally, I was awarded the 2023 SAEM AGEM Early Career Achievement Award, in addition to the UAB DEM Outstanding Researcher of the Year 2023.