I am a social epidemiologist by training. I received my master's degree in Social Policy from University of Pennsylvania and my doctoral degree in Social Epidemiology from Harvard University. My research focuses on social determinants of cognitive aging. Under this research area, I am involved in three lines of research:

Psychosocial Stressors and Resilience Across the Lifecourse:
My initial research line explores the impact of psychosocial stressors and resilience throughout one's life, ranging from early childhood experiences to elder abuse, on cognitive aging. This includes examining cumulative effects and identifying the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying these relationships. My publications in Social Science and Medicine and the Journal of Gerontology Series A highlight that stress exposures across the lifecourse are linked to diminished cognitive function in late life. Furthermore, these stress exposures help elucidate racial disparities in cognitive function.

Methodological Approaches in Longitudinal Cognitive Aging Research:
In the second line of my research, I focus on methodological challenges in longitudinal cognitive aging studies, particularly addressing practice effects—improvements in cognitive test performance due to repeated exposures to the same materials. A paper published in Alzheimer & Dementia outlines an approach I developed to account for practice effects in the presence of mode and period effects.

Disparities in the Impact of ADRD on Older Adults:
My third research line centers on understanding disparities in the impact of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) on older adults. Social factors influence both who develops ADRD and vulnerability of those individuals to other threats to their health and well-being. In a publication in JAMA Neurology, I found significant increases in mortality, attributed to ADRD as an underlying or contributing cause, were observed in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these increases were notably reduced in the second pandemic year, with the most pronounced declines occurring in deaths within nursing home/long-term care settings. These findings highlight the vulnerability of older adults with ADRD during the COVID-19 pandemic.