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.
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.
Dr. Ehrlich is a clinician-scientist whose research on vision impairment cross-cuts population health and health services research. 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. He currently serves as Associate Director of MiCDA’s Network Core.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.