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Katherine T. Ward, MD

Clinical Professor, Medicine - Primary Care and Population Health

BioDr. Ward is the Chief of the Geriatrics Section in the Department of Medicine, Division of Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford University School of Medicine, and a Clinical Professor of Medicine. In this leadership role, she supervises program leaders across outpatient, inpatient, and skilled nursing facility settings, bringing them together to provide longitudinal, coordinated care to older adults across the healthcare continuum.

Dr. Ward is a fellowship-trained geriatrician with Stanford in Palo Alto, California, and is board certified in geriatric medicine, hospice and palliative medicine, and internal medicine. Her clinical practice spans all care settings—outpatient clinics, hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities—with a focus on managing the critical transitions between them. She specializes in comprehensive care for older adults, including dementia care, palliative care, geriatric assessment, and best practices in nursing home care. Dr. Ward draws on her extensive experience to teach and implement evidence based models that support care for older adults. Dr. Ward's research interests include early detection of dementia in vulnerable populations, dementia care support programs, and geriatric assessment in diverse populations.

She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy; The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging; and the Journal of Palliative Medicine. She has served as an ad hoc reviewer for several journals, including Geriatrics, and has presented posters at annual meetings of the American Geriatrics Society and the Society of General Internal Medicine.
Dr. Ward is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Geriatrics Society.