Louise Aronson

Dr. Louise Aronson is a practicing geriatrician, writer, and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where she has focused her career on advancing the understanding of the aging process in society and medicine. Aronson is a graduate of Brown University, Harvard Medical School, and the Warren Wilson Program for Writers, combining clinical expertise with literary skill to address key issues in geriatrics, healthcare for older adults, medical education, reflective learning, integrative geriatrics, and public medical writing.

Aronson is the author of the New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist "Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life." Drawing on extensive experience caring for patients, she integrates history, science, literature, popular culture, and personal narrative to present a nuanced perspective on aging, medicine, and society. Her first book, "A History of the Present Illness," was a finalist for both the Chautauqua Prize and the PEN America Debut Fiction Award.

At University of California, San Francisco, Aronson has held multiple leadership roles, including director of the Pathways to Discovery program, the Northern California Geriatrics Education Center, the Optimizing Aging Project, and chief of geriatrics education. She leads the campus-wide Health Humanities and Social Advocacy Initiative. Her work centers on expanding geriatric care and reshaping public perceptions of old age, developing programs and practices that empower older adults to maintain agency and wellness.

Aronson's contributions have been recognized with the Gold Professorship in Humanism in Medicine, the California Homecare Physician of the Year award, and the American Geriatrics Society Clinician-Teacher of the Year award. She has been named an Influencer in Aging and a Humanism in Aging Leadership Award winner. Her writing appears in The New York Times, Washington Post, Discover Magazine, and New England Journal of Medicine, and has earned four Pushcart nominations, the Sonora Review Prize, and a MacDowell fellowship.

A frequent public speaker on aging and healthcare, Aronson has presented at TEDMED and appeared on national media, advocating for a nuanced focus on elderhood to improve quality of life and health outcomes for the aging population. With a background in history and anthropology, she chose medicine to improve lives and later discovered the impact of combining medical expertise with writing. Aronson bridges rigorous science with human storytelling, providing insight for audiences navigating the complexities of aging in America.