Dr. Veerawat Phongtankuel conducts research focused on improving the quality of life for older adults and is a practicing physician in Weill Cornell Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. He develops interventions that aim to improve symptom management at the end-of-life and the burdens felt by both patients facing serious illnesses and their caregivers. His additional research interests include addressing caregiver mental health, using technology to help care for older adults, and improving dementia care. As Director of the Office of Geriatrics Research at Weill Cornell, Dr. Phongtankuel is instrumental in facilitating research across the division, planning and implementing investigations, and disseminating study results. He is also committed to mentoring the next generation of trainees through his roles as Co-Director of the Geriatrics and Palliative Research Scholars program and a faculty member of Weill Cornell’s T32 program in behavioral geriatrics. Among several honors, Dr. Phongtankuel has been named an AFAR/Hartford Foundation COE Scholar, an Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program Scholar, and a recipient of the Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging. Dr. Phongtankuel graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical College in 2009 and completed his residency at Temple University Medical Center. He joined the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in 2014 after finishing his geriatric medicine fellowship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.