About Us: SOARNet

Our Mission

The mission of SOARNet is to develop and conduct practice-based research to improve the health of older adults. The goal of the SOARNet PBRN is to generate practical and timely evidence that can be used by primary care providers to enhance the quality and efficacy of older adult health care.

SOARNet, previously known as SHARe, was founded in 2017 and led by our previous directors Dr. Sara Espinoza and Dr. Polly Noël. In 2023, SOARNet was appointed a new director, Dr. Sara Masoud, who has previous experience with this field. She played a key role in UT Health San Antonio’s Caring for the Caregiver organization.

This PBRN has a history of collaborations between UT Health San Antonio and WellMed, including the Community of Dementia Excellence: Successfully Aging & Living in San Antonio (CODE: SALSA) project, funded by the Administration on Community Living / DHHS (09ADPI0014-00).  The overall goal of CODE:SALSA was to strengthen home and community-based services for persons with dementia and their caregivers and foster a dementia-capable community in San Antonio.

Prior work between UT Health San Antonio and WellMed include an NIA-funded R21 Added Value of Primary Care-Senior Center Linkages for Health and Functioning (AG0456660), which explored the role that multipurpose senior centers play in maintaining the health and functioning of older adults with diabetes.