Francesca Falzarano is an assistant professor of gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School. Her research is inspired by her personal experience as a caregiver to her parents and explores how to improve the mental health and well-being of family caregivers, including through the use of technology. On young caregivers “I think right now it's estimated that five and a half million individuals are under the age of 18 are caring for a parent or some family member with chronic illness, mental health issues, dementia-related illnesses, and other age-related impairments. So, this is something that's ..read more

Mireille Jacobson is an associate professor in the USC Leonard Davis School and the co-director of the Aging and Cognition Initiative at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, where she’s also a senior fellow. She joins Professor George Shannon to discuss her research using economic insights to better understand decision-making around vaccines, palliative care, Alzheimer’s disease and more.  On health economics and the role it plays in healthy aging "Health economics really is just the application of economics to health and healthcare… So whether it's time or money or a ..read more

Assistant Professor of Gerontology Joseph Saenz joins Professor George Shannon to discuss his ongoing work on rural-urban differences in cognitive ability among older adults in Mexico, as well as whether certain personality factors make people resilient to the negative effects of early-life disadvantage. Quotes from this episode On the focus of his work I focus my research on looking at how it's socioeconomic disadvantage throughout the life course relates with cognitive ability and late life. I'm interested in education. I'm interested in income, wealth and the resources that we have availabl ..read more

Instructional Associate Professor of Gerontology Paul Nash joins Professor George Shannon for a conversation on the impacts of ageism, intersectionality and LGBTQ+ issues in aging, and the importance of talking about sexual health with older adults. Quotes from the episode On stereotypes and the impacts of ageism Well, there are some huge implications when it comes to ageism. So when we look on an individual level, we know that those people who have internalized ageism, so when they've acquired ageist attitudes across the life course, and then they reach older age themselves and they start to ..read more

Associate Professor of Gerontology and Sociology Jennifer Ailshire joins Professor George Shannon to discuss the impacts of air pollution, global aging and how factors like location and education can influence the way we age. On the importance of place, or location, on aging Well, I think of place as one of the greatest supports and constraints on the way that we want to live our lives. So we envision a life for ourselves, our daily decisions, but it's really dependent on where we live. So for instance, I have a goal to be a very physically fit person and to engage in physical activity ev ..read more

Julie Zissimopoulos is an associate professor in the USC Price School of Public Policy and the co-director of the Aging and Cognition Program at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, where she’s also a senior fellow and the director of two NIA-funded centers that support innovative social science research on dementia. She recently spoke to us about her research using economic insights to better understand the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on individuals, families, caregivers, and society. On the demographics of Alzheimer’s disease: “People are living longer than ever. So, f ..read more

John Tower is a professor of biology and gerontology. He spoke to us about his research on the roles of sex differences and mitochondria in aging. Highlights from our conversation: As you may know, in humans, women live longer than men. And the reason for that is not entirely understood and also malfunction of the mitochondria, which is also called the powerhouse of the cell is, directly implicated in aging and multiple aging-related diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease and cancer. And so we'd like to understand at a very basic level, why does the mitochondria malfun ..read more

Dr. Kerry Burnight is the chief gerontologist at GrandPad, the creators of an internet-connected tablet designed specifically for seniors. She spoke to us about how the device aims to combat loneliness and abuse and about the sense of purpose that powers her gerontology career. Selected Quotes On being a gerontologist Kerry Burnight: // to this day, if anybody asks me what I do I say I'm a gerontologist // a person who studies aging. And our goal is to try to make aging a better experience for all of us. And then people are right on board. So I think there's like a million different ways to ex ..read more

Professor John Walsh, vice dean of education at the USC Leonard Davis School joins Professor George Shannon, holder of the Kevin Xu chair in Gerontology for a conversation on how teachers and students can make the most of online instruction and to discuss how our life experiences can help us meet this challenging moment in time, both in the classroom and outside of it. Quotes from this episode: John Walsh On isolation Many students are feeling isolated right now and it's obviously forced isolation and they just want to connect. The  premed class I'm teaching right now, I have 50 students ..read more

Reggie Tucker-Seeley, the Edward L. Schneider Chair in gerontology and an assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School is joined by his colleague, Jhumpka Gupta, an associate professor in the global and community health department at George Mason University. The two discuss issues of racism and hate and the implications for health across the life course. Selected quotes: Reggie Tucker-Seeley: "… with the COVID-19 global pandemic, we know that across racial and ethnic groups, that there is differential access to testing, different levels of access to quality healthcare, differences in th ..read more