Meet Our Medical Director
Get to know Dr. Ally Silverton, the medical mind behind Lake Nona’s wellbeing initiatives.
July 23, 2020
Community-focused wellbeing is at the core of Lake Nona’s design from our residential communities to Medical City. Recently, Lake Nona brought in a dedicated Medical Director to take our wellbeing mission to new heights.
Ally Silverton, MD MPH, has a background in internal medicine and a master’s degree in public health focused on behavioral science and health education. In her new role, Dr. Silverton has transitioned from day-to-day individualized patient care to macro-level care for our entire community.
In addition to working on current initiatives like the Lake Nona Life Project, Dr. Silverton is supporting our community as we navigate the new realities of living and working through a global pandemic.
In this Q&A, Dr. Silverton shares insights on some of the projects she’s working on and what’s next for our living lab community.
Q. Tell us about your work with the Lake Nona Life Project – how does the study support individual wellbeing from a community perspective?
It has been interesting to take a step back and look at wellbeing on a larger scale. In a hospital setting, we’re focused on taking care of really sick patients who often have complications from lifestyle related conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.
In Lake Nona, we aim to enable wellbeing in a variety of different ways from community events and neighborhood design to try to prevent disease before it appears. With the Lake Nona Life Project, we’re exploring how a healthy lifestyle and community has an impact on whole-person health over a lifetime. Beyond residents, we’ve expanded our research to participants who work, study and play in Lake Nona too.
Q. What other wellness initiatives are you working on?
One of the things I’m working on is developing programs for our new medically-integrated wellness facility currently under construction in the Lake Nona Town Center. It is going to be a unique location for our community to come together around a full range of health and wellbeing activities.
We are creating programming, amenities, and resources that will be inviting to residents, athletes, employers, students, and even patients transitioning from hospital care. The facility is a perfect complement to the broader Lake Nona wellbeing initiatives.
Q. How is healthcare evolving with our current reality?
Telehealth is still new, but I think it’s here to stay as healthcare continues to digitize. The adoption process was slow, but now seeing how many patients are transitioning to telehealth and how those patients have been able to appreciate the benefits, it’s definitely something that I envision will be part of everyday practice. Especially when you think about other areas of focus like physical therapy or health coaching – there are a lot of great use cases where telehealth can provide significant benefits for patients.
Q. What’s next for Lake Nona?
Health innovation is accelerating at an unprecedented rate and there are many ways that could provide benefits for a living lab like Lake Nona. Understanding how we continue to progress and bring new technologies to the community will be a part of my everyday work.
Click here to learn more about Dr. Silverton’s work on the Lake Nona Life Project.