The first location of focused geriatric patient care, education, and research by faculty was at the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center (HVAMC), an affiliated Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) hospital. The Geriatric Evaluation Unit was established at the HVAMC in 1980 by Robert J. Luchi, MD, founding director of the Huffington Center on Aging (HCoA). As needs grew, program and staff increased with support from the HVAMC and the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Based upon recommendations of a Baylor Task Force on Aging, in early 1987, Baylor College of Medicine committed funds to create the Baylor Program in Aging, and the NIA awarded a Geriatric Leadership Academic Award (GLAA) with Dr. Robert Luchi as Principal Investigator and Dr. James Smith as Co-Principal Investigator. In 1988, Mr. & Mrs. Roy M. Huffington endowed the program to establish the Roy M. & Phyllis Gough Huffington Center on Aging. On September 1, 1998, Roy G. Smith, Ph.D., assumed the directorship of the HCOA.

The Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Center on Aging is committed to addressing the needs of an aging population by providing medical education and training, conducting basic and clinical science research, and delivering healthcare through BCM affiliated hospitals and other institutions. Today, the Huffington Center on Aging is recognized as one of the premier aging centers in the United States and the world.

The HCOA facilitates and coordinates interdepartmental research and initiates its own research studies. HCoA-initiated research includes cell and molecular biology of aging, adrenal cell biology, DHEA, aging of the skin, a program project entitled "Control of Gene Expression in Cellular Senescence", the aging cardiovascular system, healthcare outcomes research and ethical issues in acute and long-term care settings.

Educational opportunities offered by the HCOA include courses and seminars in the basic and clinical sciences for clinical practitioners, students, trainees, faculty, staff and health professionals, as well as continuing medical education. HCOA sponsors courses for medical students, geriatric medicine clinical rotations for medical residents, and an accredited Geriatric Fellowship Training Program. Research training opportunities include the Cell & Molecular Biology of Aging Research Training Program for predoctoral and postdoctoral students.

Clinical faculty and trainees provide inpatient and outpatient care to older persons through the Geriatric Medicine Associates of the Department of Medicine at Smith Tower and The Methodist Hospital; in- and out-patient facilities at the HVAMC; and several hospital and community long-term care facilities.

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