ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2023
The Young Physician-Scientist Awards (YPSA) recognize physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
About the awardee
Kah Poh Loh, MBBCh BAO, MS is a geriatric hematologist and oncologist, specializing in the care of older adults with myeloid malignancies. Dr. Loh leads all geriatric hematology clinical efforts at her institution, including building a de novo geriatric hematology consultative clinic, inspiring and helping to organize geriatric hematology clinical trials, and training local and international mentees.
Dr. Loh's research focuses on developing and implementing behavioral and supportive care interventions, particularly digital health technologies, to improve outcomes for older adults with cancer. These interventions include a patient-centered communication tool to faciltiate shared decision making, a mobile health exercise intervention to reduce functional decline during cancer treatments, and a serious illness communication intervention delivered via telehealth to facilitate goal-concordant care. She is supported by a National Cancer Institute (NCI) K99/R00, National Institute of Aging (NIA) R03 GEMSSTAR Award, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Conquer Cancer Foundation Career Development Award, and the Wilmot Cancer Institute Research Fellowship Award. She has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles and presented over 130 oral and poster presentations, and has also received >30 research and travel awards.
Nationally, Dr. Loh was a member of the ASCO Annual Meeting Education Committee for Geriatric Oncology (Chair 2020-2021) and the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Cancer and Aging Special Interest Group (Chair 2021-2022). She is a member of the Junior Investigator Board and Junior Faculty Lead in the Analytics Core for the NIA-funded Cancer and Aging Research (CARG) R21/R33 infrastructure grant, member of the American Society of Hematology Committee on Education Affairs, Board member of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG), and member of the AGS Research Committee as well as the Methods, Annual Meeting, and NIA subcommittees.
Dr. Loh has mentored over 20 trainees and faculty both locally and internationally. She has served or currently serves on four PhD dissertation committees (Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Nursing) and a Master capstone project (Biostatistics).