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There is no bigger champion of seniors than Janice Knebl, DO, MBA.

Beloved by patients, Dr. Knebl, Regents Professor and Director of the HSC Center for Geriatrics, has devoted more than three decades to treating older adults with skill, sensitivity and dignity. But the geriatric specialist’s reach extends far beyond the patients she has helped live longer, healthier lives. She has made a lasting impact on geriatric training for osteopathic medical students and health care professionals.

Dr. Knebl, also a Dallas Southwest Osteopathic Physicians Endowed Chair and Professor in Geriatrics, and her team helped craft the “WE HAIL” program, Workforce Enhancement in Health Aging and Independent Living, with funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The program was developed to transform clinical training environments for health care professionals and caregivers in order to meet the needs of older adults in Tarrant County and surrounding rural communities. In 2019, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission presented the program with the Innovators in Aging Award.

Dr. Knebl also brings her expertise to a number of research teams studying aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and healthcare needs of geriatric populations. She is an active member of the Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium that is working to improve early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

Dr. Knebl has also served the osteopathic profession on the NBOME Board of Directors and as Chair of the AOA Commission on Osteopathic Colleges Accreditation.

Said Dr. Frank Filipetto, Dean of TCOM, “Her impact has been felt in our community for decades, and her research and training of health care professionals has been profound.”

Honor your HSC hero today! Please make a tribute gift, submit a photo or share a story that you value. Join us throughout 2020 as we celebrate the people, events and innovations that made UNTHSC all it is today — and look ahead to the next 50 years. For the 50th anniversary, team members nominated people whose contributions make them HSC Heroes. Each week, a new Hero will be revealed. View the list of all our Hero profiles published so far this year. There is a new one each week.

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