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Brock A. Beamer, MD

Academic Title:

Assistant Professor

Primary Appointment:

Medicine

Location:

VAMC (GRECC) 4B-198

Phone (Primary):

(410) 605-7000, x54870

Education and Training

Education and Training

1986

B.A.

Kent State University

Chemistry

1987

no degree

Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University

Bioethics

1991

M.D.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Medicine

 

Post Graduate Education and Training

1991 – 1994 

 

1994 – 1995

Internship & Residency  Chief Residency

University of California at Los Angeles San Fernando Valley Program in Internal Medicine, at UCLA/Los Angeles County Olive View Medical Center and Sepulveda Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Internal Medicine

1995 – 1997

Fellowship

JHU-SOM, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology

Geriatrics

Biosketch

My interest in improving health for older adults has resulted in broad clinical experience and a diverse research history.  This has exposed me to many clinical subjects in many settings, and to many vexing ethical and regulatory issues.  My early research experiences ranged from my own molecular investigations of the etiology of obesity and diabetes to Lifestyle Activity weight loss interventions in middle aged, functionally fit individuals.  These efforts taught me, amongst other things, that obesity, weight loss and body composition do impact function but are far more complicated to study well than they may first appear.  Recent work in rehabilitation, strength training and fall prevention in older adults continues to challenge me to examine how best to balance risk vs. benefit on multiple levels --for individual participants, for the specific study, and for research enterprise more broadly.  Often a risk that a patient and I may deem worthwhile for the hope of clinical benefit is simply not appropriate for a research setting; this can be difficult to understand for volunteers who are turned away, and for young investigators struggling to recruit.  More difficult for senior research colleagues and regulators is that often the “high risk subject” will indeed have adverse outcomes while enrolled in research, but that the research itself may have minimally impacted the specific outcome much less the overall risk for the individual (a particularly relevant consideration for exercise interventions and for risk of falls). 

My main hope for aging research at UM-SOM and BVAMC is that we learn to blend well the compassion that drives our clinical practices and underlies our quest for better treatment options with scientific rigor and due appreciation of the safety and regulatory requirements alluded to above.  Learning to do good research and safe, ethical research should always go hand in hand.

Research/Clinical Keywords

Aging; Body Composition; Rehabilitation; Biology of Aging;

Highlighted Publications

Finucane TE, Beamer BA, Roca RP, Kawas CH.  Establishing advance medical directives with demented patients: a pilot study.  Journal of Clinical Ethics, 1993; 4(1):51-4.

Beamer BA, Yen C-J, Negri C, Silver K, Brown KA, Yarnall DP, Burns DK, Roth J, Shuldiner AR.  Molecular scanning of the human peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (hPPAR-g) gene in obese Caucasians: identification of a Pro12Ala PPAR-g2 missense mutation.  Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1997; 241:270-274.

Blumenthal JB, Andersen RE, Mitchell B, Seibert MJ, Yang H, Herzog H, Beamer BA, Franckowiak SC, Walston JD.  Novel Neuropeptide Y1 and Y5 Receptor Gene Variants:  Associations with Serum Triglyceride and High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels.  Clinical Genetics, 2002; 62(3):196-202.

Punjabi NM, Beamer BA.  C-reactive Protein Associates with Sleep-disordered Breathing Independent of Adiposity.  Sleep. 2007;30(1):29-34. PMID: 17310862

Espinoza S, Guo H, Fedarko N, DeZern A, Fried LP, Xue Q, Leng S, Beamer B, Walston JD.  Glutathione peroxidase enzyme activity in aging and inflammation. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008; 63(5):505-9.   PMID: 18426963

Xue QL, Walston JD, Fried LP, Beamer BA.  Prediction of Risk of Falling, Physical Disability, and Frailty by Rate of Decline in Grip Strength: The Women's Health and Aging Study. Arch Intern Med 2011 Jun 27;171(12):1119-21.  PMID: 21709116

Inacio M, Ryan AS, Bair WN, Prettyman M, Beamer BA, Rogers MW. Gluteal muscle composition differentiates fallers from non-fallers in community dwelling older adults. BMC Geriatr. 2014 Mar 25;14(1):37.  PMID: 24666603

Bair W-N, Prettyman MG, Beamer BA, Rogers MW. Kinematic and behavioral analyses of protective stepping strategies and risk for falls among community living older adults.  Clinical Biomechanics  2016 Apr 29;36:74-82.  PMID: 27228075.

Orwig D, Mangione KK, Baumgarten M, Terrin M, Fortinsky R, Kenny AM, Gruber-Baldini AL, Beamer BA, Tosteson ANA, Shardell M, Magder L, Binder E, Koval K, Resnick B, Craik RL, Magaziner J. Improving Community Ambulation after Hip Fracture: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing two physical therapy interventions Journal of Physiotherapy. In press.  

Addison O, Inacio M, Bair W-N, Prettyman M, Beamer BA, Ryan AS, Rogers MW. Role of Hip Abductor Muscle Composition and Torque in  Protective Stepping for Lateral Balance Recovery in Older Adults. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In press.

Grants and Contracts

Active Research Support

R01 AG033607 (Rogers)                        09/01/10-05/31/16
NIH/NIH                                     NCE    
Intervention to Enhance Lateral Balance Function and Prevent Falls in Aging
The specific aims are to conduct a randomized, controlled trial with four training arms that will compare the effects and durability of 12 weeks of training in community living older adults at risk for falls by determining: 1) the effect of (a) waist-pull induced step training, (b) hip AB-AD muscle strengthening, and (c) a combined program compared to (d) a flexibility and relaxation program (control) on the protective stepping response to an external balance perturbation.

 

R01AG035009 (Magaziner)                     09/01/10-07/31/17
NIH/NIA                                     NCE                
Community Ambulation Following Hip Fracture
This randomized controlled multi-center study will evaluate the effect of two different 4 month, home delivered multi-component Physical Therapy interventions on the ability to ambulate independently in the community among older men and women who have sustained a hip fracture.  The project also will investigate precursors to community ambulation and the cost effectiveness of delivering the program to frail and disabled older people.

 

4R37 AG009901 (Magaziner)                  09/01/11 – 08/31/17     
NIH/NIA                                     NCE
Effects of Multi-Modal Exercise Intervention Post Hip Fracture
The goal of this study is to evaluate some of the key mechanisms on the pathway to changes in community ambulation in response to a Multi-Modal Intervention delivered to this frail and disabled group of older persons. This is being done as an ancillary study to a Phase III randomized clinical trial (1R01AG035009).  Hip fracture patients undergoing PT interventions will have detailed characterization of body composition, physical function and neuropsychologic ability.

 

1R21AG049615 (Rogers)                           06/01/2016 – 05/31/2017
NIH/NIA                                        $150,000                               
Protective Balance and Startle Responses to Sudden Drop Perturbations in Aging
This project aims to begin the elucidation of the contribution of startle to the impaired reaction of older adults to balance perturbation. 


Core Investigator, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC)

Department of Veterans Affairs (PI Leslie Katzel)

The GRECC conducts research, clinical, and educational programs for older veterans with chronic disease and other risk factors for disability and death.  Increasingly, investigations on rehabilitation are being supplemented with preventive exercise and lifestyle interventions to test whether health and independence of older adults can be preserved longer and more cost effectively.

 

 

P30 AG028747 (Magaziner)                      07/1/2016 - 6/30/2021
NIH/NIA                                       $5,978,039 (TCs requested)
Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Center
The aims of the UM-OAIC are to: 1) conduct research that examines the mechanisms underlying the functional impairments associated with stroke, hip fracture, and prevalent chronic diseases in older people; 2) design novel, exercise and activity-based rehabilitation interventions that produce clinically relevant outcomes and study the mechanisms underlying them; 3) translate interventions developed in UM-OAIC clinical laboratories and in other clinical centers for implementation and rigorous evaluation in community settings; 4) support pilot and exploratory studies, development projects, and externally-funded projects that support the UM-OAIC mission; and 5) to foster the career development of junior faculty/scholars into independent, academic scientists with expertise in the study of older persons with disabling diseases through mentor-based, bench-to-bedside translational research training that includes didactic and experiential/practical-applied training in conducting independent, aging research.