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Dr. Twardzik’s  research focuses on understanding how social and environmental factors, including transportation and neighborhood environment, influence mobility, disability, and health behaviors among older adults.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Dr. Sol’s research interests focus on evaluating psychosocial and physical context in racial/ethnic disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) with a focus on the neighborhood. Her clinical training as a rehabilitation psychologist informs her research on the role of context in ADRD disparities.

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.

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.

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.