Regenstrief Appoints Research Center Director as Interim CEO

The Regenstrief Institute has appointed Susan Hickman, PhD, as interim president and CEO effective June 1, 2022.

Hickman will continue to serve as director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute.

Hickman is the Cornelius and Yvonne Pettinga Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and a professor at Indiana University School of Nursing. She also serves as co-director of the IUPUI Research in Palliative and End of Life Communication and Training (RESPECT) Signature Center.

Hickman is a clinical geropsychologist whose work has focused on optimizing the quality of life for older adults through improved communication about treatment preferences.

Hickman has spent more than twenty years researching the POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) model, which aims to ensure that patients document their end-of-life treatment preferences.

She co-chaired the coalition that championed the development of Indiana’s version of POLST called the Indiana POST form (Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment).

Hickman has also served as principal investigator or co-investigator on multiple externally funded projects related to palliative care. She is co-principal investigator on the National Institute on Aging APPROACHES clinical trial, which aims to improve care by integrating advance care planning into the nursing home workflows.

Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA, dean of IU School of Medicine, and D. Craig Brater, MD, chair of the Regenstrief Institute Board of Directors, have both noted their appreciation of Hickman’s leadership of the Center for Aging Research and her willingness to assume interim leadership of the institute.

Hickman holds a BA in psychology from Wellesley College. She also has an MA and PhD in psychology from the University of Kansas. Hickman completed a post-doctoral fellowship in geropsychology at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.