Photo of Dae Kim, Associate Scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research in Boston, MA

Dae Hyun Kim, MD, MPH, ScD

  • Associate Director & Senior Scientist, Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research
  • Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
  • Attending Geriatrician, Division of Gerontology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • Faculty

Dr. Kim is a geriatrician, researcher, and mentor. He believes we can provide better health care to older people by incorporating frailty into clinical care, research, and population health.

Toward this mission, Dr. Kim founded the Frailty Research Program at the Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife. Funded by grants from the National Institute on Aging, Harvard Catalyst, Medical Foundation, and John A. Hartford Foundation, his research aims to enable clinicians and health care systems to deliver clinical care and population health management tailored to a person’s frailty level.

As a Beeson scholar, Dr. Kim developed a claims-based frailty index algorithm, which allows estimation of the frailty level from administrative claims data such as Medicare data. This algorithm is widely used by epidemiologists and health services researchers to measure frailty on a population scale. He is a member of the Project Advisory Task Force for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the Department of Health and Human Services for "Validating and Expanding Claims-Based Algorithms of Frailty and Functional Disability for Value-Based Care and Payment." Dr. Kim’s current research uses this algorithm to evaluate the benefits and harms of drug therapies, surgical procedures, and care models by different levels of frailty.

To translate frailty into clinical practice, Dr. Kim has developed the Senior Health Calculator, an online frailty index calculator, which has been incorporated into the electronic medical records at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He also created the eFrailty.org website, which hosts 15 different frailty assessment tools and web-based calculators, to make frailty assessment accessible to clinicians and researchers. Several quality improvement projects have been conducted to improve use of frailty assessment in the care of older adults. Frailty-guided clinical care has become a core part of the fellowship educational curriculum. As a result, frailty assessment is increasingly used for clinical decision-making and conversations about prognosis with patients and their family.

As a geriatrician, Dr. Kim provides preoperative frailty assessment in medically complex patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement in the Senior Health Practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Dr. Kim has mentored over 40 people in their early career, including recipients of the National Institutes of Health career development awards. He is a recipient of a K24 Mid-career Investigator Award from the National Institute on Aging. He teaches students and trainees at Harvard Medical School, Harvard Geriatrics Medicine Fellowship, and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He lectures on preoperative geriatric assessment and frailty assessment in the Harvard Annual Review of Geriatric Medicine course. His effort in teaching and research was recognized with the Mentor of the Year Award in 2013 and 2020, and the Education of the Year Award in 2022 from the Harvard Geriatric Medicine Fellowship and A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School in 2024.

Dr. Kim is an associate editor of the Journals of Gerontology Medical Sciences and serves on the American Geriatrics Society Research Methods subcommittee and the editorial board of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. His contribution to the field has been recognized with many awards and honors, including the 2017 American Geriatrics Society Junior Investigator of the Year Award, 2023 American Geriatrics Society Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award, and the election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2024.

Yonsei University     MD     02/2001     Medicine     Seoul, Korea

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health      MPH     05/2005     Epidemiology     Baltimore, MD

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital     06/2008     Internal Medicine     Philadelphia, PA

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center     06/2010     Geriatric Medicine     Boston, MA

Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health     ScD     05/2014     Epidemiology     Boston, MA

2006     The American Medical Association Foundation Seed Grant

2007     Young Investigator Award, AHA Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Meeting

2007     Winner in Research Abstract, ACP Southeast Pennsylvania Meeting

2008     Winner in Research Abstract, ACP National Meeting

2008     The Kowlessar Award in General Internal Medicine, Jefferson Medical College

2008     Winner in Research Abstract, ACP Massachusetts Meeting

2009     Winner in Research Abstract, ACP Massachusetts Meeting

2010     Emma Gildersleeve Lane Scholarship, Harvard University

2013     Mentor of the Year Award, Harvard Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

2016     Best Poster Award, American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting

2017     Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year Award, American Geriatrics Society

2020     Presidential Best Abstract Award, American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting

2020     Mentor of the Year Award, Harvard Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

2022     Educator of the Year Award, Harvard Geriatric Medicine Fellowship

2023     Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Outstanding Scientific Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award, American Geriatrics Society

2024     Elected Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation

2024     A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award, Harvard Medical School

R01AG081268           (LIN, JOSHUA K)                    Sep 1, 2023 - May 31, 2027
NIH
Deprescribing antipsychotics in patients with Alzheimers disease and related dementias and behavioral disturbance in skilled nursing facilities
Role: Co-Investigator


R01AG081412           (LIN, JOSHUA K)                    Aug 1, 2023 - Apr 30, 2027                                                                            NIH
A targeted analytical framework to optimize posthospitalization delirium pharmacotherapy in patients with Alzheimers disease and related dementias
Role: Co-Investigator


Pilot Study Award           (KIM, DAE HYUN)                    Sep 1, 2022 - Feb 29, 2024
Hebrew SeniorLife Interventional Studies in Aging Center
Multi-Component Prehabilitation Program for High-Risk Older Adults Undergoing Major Elective Surgery
Role: Principal Investigator


R01HL161697           (KRAMER, DANIEL BRUCE)                    Jul 15, 2022 - Jun 30, 2026
NIH
The Prospective Investigation of Palliative and End-of-Life ExpeRiences with ICDs (PIPER-ICD) Study
Role: Co-Investigator


K24AG073527           (KIM, DAE HYUN)                    Jul 1, 2022 - Jun 30, 2027
NIH
Mid-Career Mentoring Award For Patient-Oriented Research in Frailty and Health Outcomes
Role: Principal Investigator

Research Areas

Learn more about the areas of research where Dr. Kim focuses.

A string of computer code is reflected in the glasses of a researcher at the Marcus Institute for Aging in Boston, MA.

Data Science and Technology

The Marcus Institute includes a biostatistics and data sciences faculty who collaborate with investigators to design and conduct clinical trials and observational studies in aging.

Learn More
A scene of a hospital floor at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston, MA, with a nurse standing and working on a computer in the background and a blood pressure monitor in the foreground.

Health Care Services and Policy

The Marcus Institute seeks to effect change in policies that impact the care of older adults by identifying age-related conditions that have an outsized impact on health care utilization and costs, while developing interventions that mitigate the issues.

Learn More
A close-up shot at two hands holding a syringe that is inserted in a vial of medication.

Medication

Marcus Institute researchers are examining the relationship between medicine and adverse health outcomes such as falls, injuries, and treatment side effects among older people.

Learn More
A research subject at the Marcus Institute for Aging Research stands on a measuring platform with a computer read-out reflected on the wall behind.

Physical Health and Function

Through the Marcus Institute’s research we are learning how older adults can maintain independence and quality of life.

Learn More

Current Projects

View Dr. Kim's current projects. 

Deprescribing antipsychotics in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and behavioral disturbance in skilled nursing facilities

The research aims to determine the health outcomes of different deprescribing strategies of antipsychotics used for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in a skilled nursing facility. 

R01 AG081268 

Co-Investigator

Applications of Claims-Based Frailty Index to Advance Evidence for Frailty-Guided Decision-Making

This research aims to generate evidence needed for frailty-guided clinical care and
population health management by applying a claims-based frailty index to routine health care databases, including patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.
NIH R01AG071809

Principal Investigator

Mid-Career Mentoring Award For Patient-Oriented Research in Frailty and Health Outcomes

This project aims to develop a mentoring program in frailty research for early-stage and new investigators; conduct high-quality research to determine heterogeneity of treatment effect by frailty for a broad range of medical and surgical interventions; and enhance PI's new research skills, mentoring capacity, and leadership.

K24 AG073527

Principal Investigators

A Targeted Analytical Framework to Optimize Post-Hospitalization Delirium Pharmacotherapy in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

This research aims to compare continuation vs. different discontinuation strategies of antipsychotic medications in persons living with dementia. 

R01 AG081412

Co-Investigators

Evaluation of CMS Transitional Care and Chronic Care Management Services: Bridging the Gap and Maximizing Potential

The research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the CMS Transitional Care Management and Chronic Care Management and develop strategies to increase adoption of these services. 

NIH R56 AG084578  

09/26/2024 – 08/31/2026

 

Principal Investigators

Utilization and Clinical Outcomes of Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion in Older Adults with Atrial Fibrillation and Frailty

The research aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of left atrial appendage occlusion device compared with direct oral anticoagulants in older adults with atrial fibrillation. 

R01 HL175560  

Principal Investigator

Related News