Creating a Community of Scholars from Across the University of Michigan

Leadership

  • Vicki A. Freedman

    Vicki A. Freedman , Director

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiology, Yale University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Freedman has published extensively on the topics of population aging, disability trends and long-term care and has investigated the connections among disability, time use and wellbeing in later life. She has co-led the National Health and Aging Trends Study and the National Study of Caregiving since their inception and has served as an Associate Director of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Through these efforts she has been instrumental in disseminating new measures to study disability and care needs of older adults.

  • Esther Friedman

    Esther Friedman , External Innovative Networks Director

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Friedman’s research examines how families and communities facilitate the health and wellbeing of older adults. Much of her recent work focuses on family caregiving, including social support networks of family caregivers, the economic costs of family caregiving, and current and future kin availability for dementia care. Dr. Friedman leads MiCDA’s Network core and Longitudinal Studies on Aging in the U.S. Network.

  • Helen Levy

    Helen Levy , MiCDA Enclave Director

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
    Research Professor, School of Public Health & Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

    Ph.D., Health Economics, Princeton University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Levy’s research interests include health economics, public finance and labor economics. Her most recent work explores the financial consequences of poor health for households without health insurance and the determinants of men’s and women’s occupation choices. She serves as an Associate Director of the Health and Retirement Study and directs the MiCDA enclave.

  • Jana Deatrick

    Jana Deatrick , Program Administrator

    [email protected]

Affiliates

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  • Joelle Abramowitz

    Joelle Abramowitz

    Associate Research Scientist, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Economics, University of Washington

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Abramowitz’s research examines the effects of health policies on individuals’ major life decisions and wellbeing. She has studied health insurance and medical out-of-pocket expenditures as well as marriage and fertility. She currently co-directs the Michigan Federal Statistical Research Data Centers.

  • Kristine J. Ajrouch

    Kristine J. Ajrouch

    Adjunct Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology, Wayne State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Ajrouch’s research focuses on aging, health, immigration and family in the United Statues and the Middle East; social networks over the life course; and Arab American identity and well-being. Currently, she is working with a multidisciplinary team of researchers to study Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias among Arab Americans and directs the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease.

  • Toni C. Antonucci

    Toni C. Antonucci

    Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts
    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Life Span Developmental Psychology, Wayne State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Antonucci’s research examines the cross sectional, longitudinal and cohort effects of social relations to assess whether they contemporaneously or longitudinally predict health and well-being. She seeks to examine, clarify, and explain some of the recent complexities identified concerning social relations as well as their ability to help cope with or increase vulnerability to stress and other risk factors

  • Kelly Marie Bakulski

    Kelly Marie Bakulski

    Research Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Bakulski’s research focuses on the genetics of mental and cognitive health. She also has experience with heavy metals exposure assessment, particularly biomarkers of cumulative lead exposure. Dr. Bakulski’s current research integrates and applies multiple genome-wide measures to understand disease risk. In addition, she studies the interactions between multiple pollutant exposures and genetics in aging populations on the risk of cognitive decline.

  • Sue Anne Bell

    Sue Anne Bell

    Assistant Professor, Department of Systems, Population and Leadership, School of Nursing

    Ph.D., Nursing with Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Sue Anne Bell is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, with expertise in disaster preparedness and response, community health and emergency care. Her work focuses on the health and well-being of aging populations in the context of a disaster. She studies the long-term health impact of disasters with an emphasis on chronic health conditions and the relationship between community resilience, aging and disasters.

  • Kira Birditt

    Kira Birditt

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Human Development & Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Birditt’s research focuses on the negative aspects of relationships, stress, and the implications of relationships and stress for health and well-being across the life span. She is particularly interested in understanding how relationships differentially influence health and well-being depending on the context of stress. Most of her projects involve examining individuals and dyads either over time and or within families.

  • Robin Brewer

    Robin Brewer

    Assistant Professor, School of Information

    Ph.D., Technology and Social Behavior, Northwestern University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Brewer’s research lies at the intersection of accessibility and social computing. Using primarily qualitative research methods, she designs and studies voice-based interfaces and online communities for older adults. Additionally, she has established partnerships with medium to large senior-serving residential and non-residential communities in the Midwestern United States to conduct sustainable community-engaged research.

  • Sarah Burgard

    Sarah Burgard

    Professor, Department of Sociology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts
    Research Professor, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Burgard conducts research on the social stratification of aging and health with population-based survey data. She has published extensively on the social factors underlying health disparities by socioeconomic status, gender, and race/ethnicity across the life course. She studies the ways employment and other social roles like parenting constrain and enable women and men in their pursuit of financial security and career satisfaction. She currently serves as a MiCDA Advisory Panel member.

  • Julie P W Bynum

    Julie P W Bynum

    Professor, Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Medical School Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School

    M.D., Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Bynum’s research focuses on the assessment of healthcare delivery for older adults using national U.S. Medicare healthcare data linked to other datasets. She has successfully led interdisciplinary teams to answer questions about the performance of the health system and the complex drivers of quality and costs, especially for older adults nearing the end of life or with Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Kathleen Cagney

    Kathleen Cagney

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center & Population Studies Center Director, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D. Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Kathleen Cagney studies social inequality and its relationship to health and aging, with a particular focus on neighborhoods and race.  She has also examined the role of the social environment and its impact on health and well-being over the lifecourse. Dr. Cagney is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Social Research.

  • HwaJung Choi

    HwaJung Choi

    Research Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School
    Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Choi’s research focuses on the implications of family availability for healthcare and healthcare costs for older adults. She is currently examining the influence of family resources on care utilization among older adults with dementia and the role of local contextual factors in health differences at older ages between the US and England.

  • Christine Cigolle

    Christine Cigolle

    Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Medical School Associate Professor, Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, Medical School

    M.D., Medicine, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Cigolle’s research investigates how geriatric conditions such as cognitive impairment contribute to multimorbidity in the older adult and to disability and mortality outcomes. She has broad experience in the secondary analysis of large datasets, including the methodological issues of missing data, variable specification and validation, and longitudinal analysis.

  • Philippa J. Clarke

    Philippa J. Clarke

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
    Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Social Science & Health, University of Toronto

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Clarke’s research interests center around the role of neighborhood built environments for health. Using population-based survey data linked to secondary data sources, she has investigated the importance of neighborhood social and built environments for disability, mobility and cognitive function and has identified inequalities by life course social position and residential location. 

  • Frederick Conrad

    Frederick Conrad

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
    Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts

    Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology, University of Chicago

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Conrad studies respondent behavior in a survey context. He has investigated biases in judgments about the frequency of behaviors, the effect of automatic progress feedback on respondents’ willingness to continue filling out a questionnaire, and the decision to participate in a survey. He currently directs the University of Michigan’s Program in Survey Methodology.

  • Kate Duchowny

    Kate Duchowny

    Research Investigator, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiologic Science, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Duchowny’s research seeks to bridge the social, environmental, and biological determinants of musculoskeletal health and physical functioning in older adults. She is most interested in identifying which aspects of the built and social environment matter most in helping older adults maintain independence and understanding life course sociobiologic mechanisms (e.g., viral infections, mitochondrial function) that drive disparate outcomes in physical disability especially related to neighborhoods.

  • Joshua Ehrlich

    Joshua Ehrlich

    Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Medical School
    Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    M.D., Medicine, Cornell University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Ehrlich is a clinician-scientist whose research on vision impairment cross-cuts population health and health services research. He has an interest in the health and disability trajectories of older adults with visual and multisensory impairments. He conducts research on low vision and vision rehabilitation; aging and vision; and the epidemiology of eye disease. As a co-investigator on the National Health and Aging Trends Study, he has collaborated on the design of a set of vision tests for use by interviewers in the home. He is also one of the PIs of the Longitudinal Study of Health and Ageing in Kenya (LOSHAK) project.

  • Jessica Faul

    Jessica Faul

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Faul’s scholarly interests are at the intersection of epidemiology, biodemography, and aging. She is currently collaborating on a grant to identify gene-by-environment interactions and their influence on later life cognitive decline and is co-leading a study to characterize disparities in Alzheimer’s disease risk through analysis of polygenic risk and other epidemiologic factors. She is a co-investigator on the Health and Retirement Study and Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol and has led the development of a workshop to train social scientists on the use of genomic data.

  • Lauren Gerlach

    Lauren Gerlach

    Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School

    D.O., Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Gerlach has used national surveys and administrative claims data to evaluate the growth of central nervous system medication polypharmacy use among older adults and to understand how health systems respond to warnings (e.g., from the US Food and Drug Administration) for psychotropic medications. She has also explored questions surrounding safe and rationale psychotropic medication prescribing among older adults.

  • Arline T. Geronimus

    Arline T. Geronimus

    Professor, Health Behavior & Health Education, School of Public Health
    Research Professor, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research

    Sc.D., Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Geronimus originated the biopsychosocial theory of “weathering,” which posits that the health of African Americans is subject to early health deterioration as a consequence of social exclusion. Much of her scholarly work is related to developing and testing this framework.

  • Michele Heisler

    Michele Heisler

    Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School Professor, Health Behavior & Health Education, School of Public Health

    M.D., Medicine, Harvard Medical School

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Heisler develops and tests evidence-based primary care interventions to prevent and manage chronic diseases, particularly diabetes. She has developed and tested several peer support models that were found effective in improving diabetes outcomes. She also led a multi-site clinical trial (the AIM study) that led to improved blood pressure among high-risk patients with diabetes.

  • Margaret Hicken

    Margaret Hicken

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Health Behavior Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Hicken studies the social causes and biological mechanisms linking racial group membership to renal and cardiovascular disease inequalities. Her research examines the interrelated roles of racial residential segregation, neighborhood disadvantage, environmental hazards, and racial health inequalities in adult populations, including older adults.

  • Geoffrey Hoffman

    Geoffrey Hoffman

    Assistant Professor, School of Nursing

    Ph.D., Health Policy and Management, University of California at Los Angeles

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Hoffman is a health services researcher who studies quality of care and policies affecting older adults. He has conducted research on fall injuries, the effects of caregiving and disease prevention and health promotion, and outcomes for older adults and caregivers related to pay-for-performance policies.   

  • Mengyao Hu

    Mengyao Hu

    Assistant Research Scientist, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Survey Methodology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Hu’s current research interests include the identification and reduction of measurement errors in cross-cultural surveys, survey non-response, longitudinal survey data analysis, and methodological issues that arise in survey research with older populations. Dr. Hu is a Co-Investigator on the National Health and Aging Trends Study and the National Study of Caregiving and works with the team to enhance user outreach and evaluate new data collection designs. 

  • Sharon L. R. Kardia

    Sharon L. R. Kardia

    Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Human Genetics, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Kardia’s research focuses on the genetic epidemiology of common chronic diseases and their risk factors. She is particularly interested in gene-environment and gene-gene interactions and in developing novel analytical strategies to understand the complex relationship between genetic variation, environmental variation, and risk of common chronic diseases. Her research utilizes genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic measures on large epidemiological cohorts. She is a Health and Retirement Study co-investigator.

  • Carrie Anne Karvonen-Gutierrez

    Carrie Anne Karvonen-Gutierrez

    Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Epidemiology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Karvonen-Gutierrez’s research focuses on the impact of chronological aging, reproductive aging and obesity and their intersections.  She also studies the development and progression of chronic disease and musculoskeletal outcomes through the creation of a metabolically-dysfunctional and pro-inflammatory environment.

  • Lindsay Kobayashi

    Lindsay Kobayashi

    Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Kobayashi studies the social epidemiology of cognitive aging and health equity among low-income older populations.  Her current research focuses on life course determinants of cognitive aging in rural South Africa and the population health implications of improving cancer survival rates in the U.S.

  • Amanda Kowalski

    Amanda Kowalski

    Professor, Department of Economics, College of Literature, Science & the Arts Professor, Public Policy, Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy

    Ph.D., Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Kowalski specializes in bringing together theoretical models and econometric techniques to answer questions that inform current debates in health care.  Her recent research advances methods to analyze experiments and clinical trials with the goal of designing policies to target insurance expansions and medical treatments to vulnerable populations.

  • Sheria G. Robinson-Lane

    Sheria G. Robinson-Lane

    Assistant Professor, School of Nursing

    Ph.D., Nursing, Wayne State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Sheria G. Robinson-Lane is a gerontologist with expertise in palliative care, long-term care, and nursing administration. Her work aims to reduce health disparities and improve health equity for diverse older adults and family caregivers managing pain and chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s. 

  • Kenneth M. Langa

    Kenneth M. Langa

    Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School
    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Health Policy, University of Chicago M.D., Medicine, University of Chicago

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Langa’s research focuses on the epidemiology and costs of chronic disease in older adults, with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Dr. Langa’s is currently studying the relationship of cardiovascular risk factors to cognitive decline and dementia in middle-age and older adults.  He serves as an Associate Director for the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and as a MiCDA Advisory Panel Member.

  • Pearl Lee

    Pearl Lee

    Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School

    M.D., Medicine, Saint Louis University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Lee has a long-standing interest in how to improve the functioning of older adults – both cognitive and physical – to preserve their independence and improve their quality of life. Her research interests also include how to improve the quality of medical care for older adults with multiple medical conditions, particularly those with diabetes mellitus, geriatric conditions and physical function disabilities.

  • Sunghee Lee

    Sunghee Lee

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Survey Methodology, University of Maryland

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Lee’s research focuses on improving inclusivity of research data through addressing sampling and measurement issues in data collection with linguistic and racial minorities as well as hard-to-reach and older populations and cross-cultural survey methodology.

  • Amanda Leggett

    Amanda Leggett

    Adjunct Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School

    Ph.D., Human Development & Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Leggett’s research focuses on the development of a taxonomy of dementia caregiving care management styles and determining how style might be used to target interventions and optimize care. She is also working to study family caregiving networks more broadly and intersections with health and well-being for persons living with dementia.

  • Susan Hautaniemi Leonard

    Susan Hautaniemi Leonard

    Associate Research Scientist, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Leonard’s areas of research include macro- and micro-level population processes and land-use in the Great Plains, including migration and aging populations and intergenerational transfers. She has also studied the evolution of nomenclature for deaths at older ages and mortality in industrial communities.

  • Margaret Levenstein

    Margaret Levenstein

    Director, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research
    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research & School of Information

    Ph.D., Economics, Yale University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Levenstein’s research focuses on the evolution of information systems and relationship with firm organization, historical changes in firm competition, information networks, contemporary international cartels, and the design of competition policies for a global economy. She currently directs the Institute for Social Research’s Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and serves as a MiCDA Advisory Panel Member.

  • Cindy Lustig

    Cindy Lustig

    Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts

    Ph.D., Psychology, Duke University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Lustig’s research program examines how adults control and overcome different forms of interference, and the consequences when they don’t.  Underlying themes in her cognitive aging work emphasize factors that influence task engagement, including how task constraints versus monetary incentives affect age differences in performance, reports of boredom, distraction, and mind-wandering.

  • Elham Mahmoudi

    Elham Mahmoudi

    Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Medical School

    Ph.D., Economics, Wayne State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Mahmoudi’s research interests include evaluating healthcare policies, reducing disparities in access to quality healthcare, and optimizing care management for patients with multiple chronic conditions.

  • Donovan T. Maust

    Donovan T. Maust

    Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School

    M.D., Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Maust’s research interests focus on ensuring that older adults with mental health and cognitive disorders receive targeted, timely, and appropriate intervention.

  • Katherine McGonagle

    Katherine McGonagle

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Social Psychology, Miami University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. McGonagle is a social psychologist with research interests in the areas of survey research methods, health, and well-being. McGonagle’s recent work is on the design and evaluation of data collection protocols to increase retention of panel study members and improve data quality, including the development of respondent contact materials, questionnaire design features, and the use of mixed mode approaches.  Dr. McGonagle serves as an Associate Director of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). 

  • James McNally

    James McNally

    Associate Research Scientist, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology/Demography, Brown University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. McNally’s research focuses on aging and life course issues and on methodological approaches to the improvement and enhancement of secondary research data. He is currently working on innovative tools and approaches to allow more efficient access to restricted data in a manner that maximizes both efficiency and subject confidentiality. He currently leads the NACDA Program on Aging, a data archive distributing studies on health and the aging life course.

  • Roshanak Mehdipanah

    Roshanak Mehdipanah

    Associate Professor, Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Biomedicine, University of Pompeu Fabra

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Mehdipanah’s research interests focus on social determinants of health including aging, ethnicity, and gender and their link to various health outcomes including mental health, physical health and overall wellbeing. Her current research focuses on the relationship between housing and health in later life.

  • Helen Meier

    Helen Meier

    Assistant Research Scientist, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiologic Sciences, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Meier’s research focuses on biosocial approaches to health inequalities and aging. She uses a life course framework to understand the molecular pathways by which social and environmental exposures occurring throughout life get “under the skin” to affect adult and later life health.   

  • Colter Mitchell

    Colter Mitchell

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
    Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Mitchell is interested in the influence of the social and familial environmental on health and behavior over the life course. His earlier research focused mainly on the social environment and child and young adult behavior in early life. Over the last decade, he has expanded on this research by examining how social contextual factors interact with genetic, epigenetic, and neurodevelopment factors to predict health and wellbeing over the life course, including in later life.

  • Grace Noppert

    Grace Noppert

    Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Noppert utilizes an integrative, biosocial approach to both understand and ameliorate long-standing health disparities in aging. Her work incorporates life course data on the social environment at the structural-, neighborhood- , and individual-levels with biological data to understand patterns of immune aging and the implications for overall aging-related morbidity and mortality. 

  • Edward Norton

    Edward Norton

    Professor, Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health Professor, Department of Economics, College of Literature, Science & the Arts

    Ph.D., Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Norton has a long-standing interest in long-term care and aging. He also uses modern econometrics to control for endogeneity and obtain causal estimates.

  • Sela Panapasa

    Sela Panapasa

    Associate Research Scientist, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology/Demography, Brown University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Panapasa studies family support and intergenerational exchanges among aged Pacific Islanders living in the US and Pacific region. Her work examines changes in elderly living arrangements and headship status in response to demographic and socioeconomic change.

  • Sarah E. Patterson

    Sarah E. Patterson

    Research Investigator, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Patterson’s research addresses whether and how social norms and family composition influence caregiving behaviors and wellbeing for family members. She has also studied the role of complex families and kinlessness in the lives of older adults.

  • Mark D Peterson

    Mark D Peterson

    Associate Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical School

    Ph.D., Physical Activity, Nutrition & Wellness, Arizona State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Peterson’s background is in physical activity and rehabilitation science with an interest in factors that influence health and life expectancy in persons with and without disabilities. His specific research interests have been devoted to physical activity epidemiology and behavioral interventions for the treatment/prevention of obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases, frailty, functional motor declines, cognitive health, and early mortality.

  • Colleen Peterson

    Colleen Peterson

    Assistant Research Scientist, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

    Ph.D., Epidemiology, University of Minnesota

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Peterson applies advanced population-level analysis and mixed methods approaches to examine issues of safety and mobility throughout the life course.  Her transportation research promotes practical applications supporting mobility-related health and wellbeing for adults, including older adults living with dementia. 

  • Fabian T. Pfeffer

    Fabian T. Pfeffer

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
    Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts

    Ph.D., Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Pfeffer’s research focuses on the transmission of socio-economic status across two or more generations in the United States and other industrialized countries. Recent projects have investigated the change in wealth inequality during the Great Recession, the relationship between parents’ wealth and their children’s educational and occupational outcomes (compared both across time and countries), and the transmission of inequality across multiple generations in the United States.

  • Amy M. Pienta

    Amy M. Pienta

    Research Professor, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Pienta’s research focuses on three areas: (1) life course and aging, (2) development of research infrastructure to support social and behavioral health research, and (3) data sharing and reuse behaviors.

  • Courtney Allyn Polenick

    Courtney Allyn Polenick

    Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School

    Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Polenick’s research interests center on family relationships and family caregiving in middle and later life. She is particularly interested in understanding mutual influences within care dyads that inform interventions to maintain the well-being of both care dyad members.

  • Lindsay Ryan

    Lindsay Ryan

    Associate Research Scientist, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Ryan’s  research investigates individual and contextual influences on psychological well-being, physical health, and cognition as adults age. She has extensive experience  developing, implementing and harmonizing over the life course new measures for studies of older adults.

  • Matthew D. Shapiro

    Matthew D. Shapiro

    Professor, Department of Economics, College of Literature, Science & the Arts
    Research Professor & Director, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Shapiro’s interests focus on integrating administrative data measurements to study late-life processes, including savings and retirement, health and long-term care behaviors. His research activities have focused on creating new data resources and using household-level and business-level data to address questions concerning macroeconomics, finance, saving, retirement, health, and long-term care.

  • Yajuan Si

    Yajuan Si

    Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Statistical Science, Duke University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Si’s research interests lie in cutting-edge methodology development in streams of Bayesian statistics, complex survey inference, missing data imputation, causal inference, and data confidentiality protection with older populations.

  • Jacqui Smith

    Jacqui Smith

    Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts
    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Psychology, Macquarie University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Smith applies life course/lifespan theory to the study of health and well-being in late life. Much of her research focuses on tracing life course predictors and pathways of different trajectories of functional maintenance, change, and survival.  She serves as a co-investigator on the Health and Retirement Study.

  • Jennifer A. Smith

    Jennifer A. Smith

    Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
    Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiologic Sciences, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Smith studies genomics, transcriptomics, and epigenomics of age-related chronic disease and its risk factors.  Her recent research investigates the interaction between genetic risk and socioeconomic risk factors as determinants of chronic disease phenotypes, particularly those that lead to disparities in health.

  • Ketlyne Sol

    Ketlyne Sol

    Research Investigator, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Loma Linda University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Sol’s research interests focus on evaluating psychosocial factors, contextual factors such as sociocultural and physical environment, and processes to help improve coping and quality of life of individuals with physical disabilities. She is currently studying disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) with a focus on the neighborhood. 

  • Amanda Sonnega

    Amanda Sonnega

    Associate Research Scientist, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Health Psychology, Johns Hopkins University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Sonnega conducts research on the social contextual determinants of work, health and well-being within a multidisciplinary life course. Her current work examines both health and work with a goal of informing policies that can positively affect both.

  • Melvin Stephens

    Melvin Stephens

    Professor, Department of Economics, College of Literature, Science & the Arts Professor, Public Policy, Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy

    Ph.D., Economics, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Stephens’ research intersects labor economics, household consumption behavior, and aging and retirement issues. His current work examines the relationship between food intake and retirement using cross-sectional datasets spanning four decades as well as a number of longitudinal datasets.

  • Robert J. Taylor

    Robert J. Taylor

    Harold R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work

    Ph.D., Social Work and Sociology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Taylor’s research examines informal social support networks of Black Americans including in later life.  He also studies religious participation among African Americans across the life course.  He is Co-Director of the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research.

  • Renuka Tipirneni

    Renuka Tipirneni

    Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan Medicine

    M.D., Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Tipirneni’s research examines the impact of health reform policies and programs on low-income, aging and other vulnerable populations and care delivery in the health care safety net.  

  • Erin Bakshis Ware

    Erin Bakshis Ware

    Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Epidemiological Sciences, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Ware conducts high throughput statistical analysis of genomic data to study disparities by in psychiatric outcomes by race and sex. She also explores gene-environment interactions as determinants of chronic disease.

  • Noah J. Webster

    Noah J. Webster

    Associate Research Scientist, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Sociology, Case Western Reserve

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Webster’s research focuses on social relations across the life course and highlights how social ties can serve as a resource across various age groups and in particular during later life.

  • David Weir

    David Weir

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Economics, Stanford University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Weir’s research interests include the measurement of health-related quality of life; the use of cost-effectiveness measures in health policy and medical decision-making; the role of supplemental health insurance in the Medicare population; the effects of health, gender, and marital status on economic well-being in retirement; and the effects of early-life experience on longevity and health at older ages. He has directed the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) since 2007 and organizes MiCDA’s HRS Partner Studies Network.

  • Brady West

    Brady West

    Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Survey Methodology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    My current research interests include the implications of measurement error in auxiliary variables and survey paradata for survey estimation, selection bias in surveys, responsive/adaptive survey design, and interviewer effects in national studies, including those focused on older populations. I also have expertise in multilevel methods for clustered and longitudinal data.

  • Laura Beth Zahodne

    Laura Beth Zahodne

    Associate Professor, Psychology, College of Literature, Science & the Arts
    Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Florida

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Zahodne’s research focuses on cognitive and brain aging, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), and racial disparities in ADRD. The overall aim of her research program is to understand how psychosocial experiences influence late-life cognitive trajectories and the expression of neurodegenerative disease.

  • Wei Zhao

    Wei Zhao

    Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

    Ph.D., Psychology, University of Michigan

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Zhao’s work spans several areas of genomic epidemiology, including gene discovery, gene-environment interaction, epigenomics, transcriptomics, mitochondrial genomics, and risk prediction.

  • Kara Zivin

    Kara Zivin

    Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School Professor, Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health

    Ph.D., Health Policy, Harvard University

    [email protected]

    Interests

    Dr. Zivin studies intended and unintended consequences of policies that influence vulnerable populations with mental disorders, including older adults. Her research focuses on predictors and consequences of depression, particularly among vulnerable populations, including the elderly, people with multiple medical comorbidities and people who face barriers to accessing and adhering to depression treatment.