Ashley Kuzmik: Bridging the Gap Between Hospital and Home

For many families, the transition from hospital to home after a loved one with dementia is discharged can be overwhelming. New medications, changing symptoms, mobility challenges and the demands of caregiving often converge all at once, leaving families to navigate an already difficult journey. Helping make that transition easier is at the heart of Ashley Kuzmik’s research.

Joining the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy in the Health Services Research (HSR) program, Kuzmik, DrPH, studies how social, clinical and structural factors influence the care of people living with dementia and their care partners. Her work examines ways to improve the transition from hospital to home, ultimately helping families achieve better health outcomes and quality of life.

“We know that people living with dementia often experience declines in mobility, function or behavioral symptoms after a hospital stay,” Kuzmik explains. “I’m interested in understanding how we can better support both patients and their care partners during that transition and develop interventions that truly meet their needs.”

Her interest in dementia research began during her doctoral studies in public health at Penn State University, where she worked on a federally funded research project focused on people living with dementia and their care partners. Collecting data in patients’ homes throughout Philadelphia transformed the way she viewed healthcare.

“I was able to see firsthand how people were living and the challenges they were facing every day,” she says. “Many care partners were balancing multiple jobs, raising children and caring for a loved one at the same time. Some families had to completely rearrange their homes because they couldn’t afford equipment to help someone safely navigate stairs. Seeing those realities made me realize this is where I wanted to focus my career.”

Looking Beyond the Patient

While many studies focus primarily on the patient, Kuzmik’s research recognizes that dementia affects an entire network of people.

“It’s not just the person living with dementia who’s impacted,” she says. “It’s the care partner, and often more than one care partner, typically family members, plus the care team including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, physical therapists and social workers who all play an important role in that transition. It’s really an ecosystem.”

Rather than designing one-size-fits-all solutions, Kuzmik’s work emphasizes person-centered interventions that consider each family’s unique circumstances. She is particularly interested in understanding how family relationships, social networks and emerging technologies, including electronic health records, digital tools and artificial intelligence, can help bridge gaps in care.

“I think we’re entering a really exciting time in this field,” she says. “When I first started doing research, much of our work was done by hand. Now we’re thinking about how technology can help us better support people living with dementia and their care partners in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago.”

Bringing Data and People’s Stories Together

Trained as a public health researcher, Kuzmik has extensive experience working with large clinical and population health datasets to identify patterns in healthcare delivery and outcomes. But over time, she has learned that numbers alone don’t tell the whole story.

“The data is incredibly important,” she says. “But I’ve also learned how valuable it is to hear directly from people — their experiences, their perspectives and what they actually need. Those conversations provide a richness that numbers alone can’t capture.”

As she builds her research program in the Clinical Pharmacy Translational Science HSR program, Kuzmik hopes to combine rigorous data analysis with the lived experiences of patients, care partners, and healthcare professionals to develop interventions that improve dementia care during one of its most vulnerable moments.

Building the Next Chapter at Michigan

Kuzmik was drawn to the University of Michigan by its collaborative culture and the opportunity to work alongside researchers across disciplines.

“The opportunities for collaboration here are incredible,” she says. “My work naturally complements pharmacy, especially when thinking about medication use and transitions of care. There are so many people across the College and the University whose expertise aligns with my research.”

In the years ahead, she hopes to expand her research program, develop innovative interventions for patients and care partners, and mentor the next generation of Health Services researchers.

“I’m looking forward to working with students and postdoctoral fellows and helping them develop as researchers,” she says. “I’m excited to build a program that brings together diverse perspectives to improve care.”

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About the College

The University of Michigan College of Pharmacy has been leading at pharmacy’s edge for 150 years. The first and oldest pharmacy school at a state university, the College — currently ranked #3 in the nation — has and continues to shape education in the field. Its faculty are internationally recognized and are innovators in drug discovery, development and delivery, precision pharmacotherapy, outcomes research, and clinical practice. More than 5,000 alumni are enhancing patient care and outcomes from the bench to the bedside, in boardrooms and communities, government agencies, and within healthcare companies.