Associate Professor
University of Texas Medical Branch
I am a PhD trained gerontologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities in the School of Public and Population Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). My goal is to conduct research that will lead to interventions, clinical guidelines, and healthcare policies that can address health disparities and promote health equity for older adults. To achieve this goal, I conduct research that intersects three distinct areas that I have developed over my career: (1) Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline; (2) Hispanic health and aging; and (3) Healthcare utilization by older adults. My early research used data from cohort studies of aging to identify modifiable risk factors for dementia and cognitive decline among older adults with a genetic predisposition for dementia. After joining UTMB, my research shifted focus to Hispanic health and aging, health disparities, and health equity. I currently use data from diverse, population-based cohort studies of aging to investigate life course risk factors for dementia, cognitive impairment, and cognitive decline. I also expanded my research to include mental health outcomes, disability in activities of daily living, and mortality. In the last five years, I have added a focus on health services research. My current research involves using Medicare claims files to study outcomes of post-acute care for older adults and the differences in healthcare utilization by older adults with and without dementia.
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