Q&A with Nha Tran: Empowering Older Adults with Diabetes to Discuss Deprescribing with Doctors
April 8, 2025PhRMA Foundation awardee Nha Tran, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, is studying what motivates or stops older adults with diabetes from talking with their clinicians about taking fewer medications.
Nha Tran knows firsthand the effects that overprescribing can have on older adults, both from her experience managing her mother’s diabetes medications and from her time working as a community pharmacist. Taking unnecessary medications can increase older adults’ risk for adverse drug events, falls, cognitive impairment, and hospitalization.
“Overtreatment isn’t just my mom’s story,” Tran said. “As a pharmacist at heart, I envision a health care system where medications serve their purposes in improving our lives, rather than complicating them.”
This issue inspired Tran to pursue her PhD at the University of Michigan, where she received a 2025 PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowships in Value Assessment and Health Outcomes Research for her work studying what motivates or stops older adults with diabetes from talking with their clinicians about taking fewer medications. She hopes to understand what drives or discourages patients from having these conversations and to develop tools and strategies that empower patients to raise concerns and make informed decisions with their clinicians.
Watch this video to learn more about Tran and her research.
Watch Tran’s presentation “Challenging the Prescribing Culture” at the University of Michigan’s 2025 Rackham King Talks.
Learn more about the PhRMA Foundation’s fellowship and grant opportunities. Check out more researcher stories on our blog.
