About Us
GRECC Centers of Excellence
The Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) are Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) centers of excellence focused on aging. They were established by Congress in 1975 in order to improve the health and health care of older Veterans. They have three main missions:
- To build new knowledge in geriatric care through research
- To improve health care for older Veterans by developing innovative clinical models of care
- To provide training and education on best practices in caring for older adults for students in healthcare disciplines and VA staff
All GRECCs are connected with a major research university and are located at 20 medical centers across the country:
GRECC Leadership

Marianne Shaughnessy, PhD, CRNP
Director, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Centers (GRECC)
VA Office of Geriatrics & Extended Care
Dr. Shaughnessy has served in leadership positions since joining the VA in 2003 as the Associate Director of Education and Evaluation in the Baltimore GRECC. She joined VA Central Office in 2013 and assumed various positions, most recent the National Director of GRECC programs. In this role she is responsible for oversight of the 20 Geriatric Centers of Excellence throughout the U.S., including management of the Geriatrics and Gerontology Federal Advisory Committee. In her prior academic career, she was faculty at the Schools of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Dr. Shaughnessy has also served on journal editorial boards, in leadership roles for professional associations and credentialing centers, and has more than 40 published peer-reviewed journal articles.
GRECC Annual Report
