IOA Honored as 2026 Rutgers School of Public Health Excellence in APE Site Preceptorship Award

The Institute on Aging is thrilled to share a recent award bestowed to Dr. Sarah Dys, who was nominated by graduate student Luis Cordero, MPH, at Rutgers University School of Public Health. Dr. Dys explains, "In 2025, I had a practice experience available to mentor a graduate student in qualitative analysis using ResidentVIEW data, which included open-ended comments that were captured by the research team during structured interviews. A practice experience is intended to apply what is learned through a Masters program; I was seeking a public health student interested in aging.

Luis Cordero, an MPH in Population Aging candidate at Rutgers University School of Public Health found the position and applied. The PE was an applied practice of practical thematic analysis (Saunders et al, 2023). We read the data, I provided mentorship on developing a research question, and we performed thematic analysis and wrote a manuscript together. That manuscript was recently published open access in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association, "What Matters to Long-Term Care Residents: Contextualizing Perceptions of Person-Centered Care." Luis is the first author of the manuscript and learned first hand, from conceptualization to dissemination how to perform a qualitative study and publish in an empirical journal."

Here is what Luis' nomination contained:
“Dr. Dys and the team at the Institute on Aging at Portland State University were instrumental in laying the foundation for my APE experience, particularly in guiding me through the process of conducting a qualitative research study. Under their mentorship, I gained a deeper understanding of qualitative research, from study design and interview development to coding and thematic analysis. Through their structured guidance and thoughtful feedback, I achieved one of my primary goals: strengthening and refining my qualitative research skills. Practicing thematic analysis in a real-world setting allowed me to meaningfully integrate what I am learning in my academic coursework and through my volunteer experiences. It was great to see the code book that was created, and how I can develop a similar tool.

Beyond research mentorship, Dr. Dys and her team fostered a collaborative and accessible learning environment. Despite being on opposite coasts, they created a seamless pathway for connection across time zones, ensuring consistent communication and support. Meeting in person during the Gerontological Society of America conference further reinforced the strength of our professional relationship and commitment to mentorship. Their encouragement, flexibility, and dedication made my APE not only educational but transformative, bridging geographic distance while cultivating professional growth. I was able to be first-author in JAMDA on our article What Matters to Residential Long-Term Care Residents: Contextualizing Perceptions of Person-Centered Care.”

We congratulate Luis for his valuable contributions to this important research and will be cheering him on in his future work! And as always, we are proud of Dr. Dys for her capacity to so skillfully support learning and growth among fellow researchers.