Current Trainees

CURRENT POSTDOCTORAL TRAINEES

Lindsey Baker, Ph.D. (Preceptor, Merril Silverstein)
Davis School of Gerontology
USC

I consider myself to be a family gerontologist, with particular interest in the intersections between intergenerational relations, productive activity and well-being in later life. Currently, my research focuses on several aspects of grandparents raising grandchildren. My primary research interests in this area focus on how factors such as the grandparent’s level of productive activity, the characteristics (age, gender and number) of the grandchild(ren) being raised or the level of parental involvement in the household may influence health and well-being among grandparents raising grandchildren. Secondary research interests include how raising a grandchild may influence other spheres of the grandparent’s life, such as marital satisfaction or retirement expectations/patterns, as well as long-term effects on the grandparent-grandchild relationship, such as the level of support provided between the generations once the grandchild is an adult.

Latrica E. Best, Ph.D.  (Preceptor, Eileen Crimmins)

As a trained social gerontologist and demographer, my research interests encompass race and gender differences in population health over the life course as well as the biodemography of aging.  Currently, my research explores the nature in which various socially defined trajectories initiate and sustain race disparities in the health of African-American and white women from emerging adulthood to later life.  Additionally, I am interested in the role that educational achievement serves in creating distinct health trajectories for different race groups.  Other research interests include examining both biomarker and survey data to establish potential between- and within-group variation in health among older diverse populations.  Here, my goals are two-fold; I am interested in 1) evaluating the maturation process of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease and their social and biological implications toward longevity and 2) examining whether biomarker/gold standard thresholds should be re-examined along more demographically defined lines throughout the life course. 

PREDOCTORAL TRAINEES

My research interests focus on cognitive function and dementia in older adults. I am currently investigating the potential roles of infection and inflammation in the development and pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. I am using data from a large set of U.S. Veteran Twins that were collected both in young adulthood and in older adulthood. This allows me to investigate whether indicators of early life health and oral infection predict the development of dementia in later life.

Nichole Kryla Lighthall (Preceptor, Mara Mather)

My research attempts to integrate perspectives from psychiatry, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience in order to understand how cognitive processing changes with age. Before transferring to the Davis School, I used experimental design to investigate the impact of stress on emotional memory and decision making in younger and older adults. Specifically, my studies looked at how physiological responses to stress (such as increased cortisol and alpha amylase secretion) may influence 1) how details are bound together in memory, 2) how much risk people are willing to take when gambling, and 3) whether the effect of stress on memory binding and risk taking varies with age. At USC, I am following up on these research questions by using fMRI to monitor brain activation during decision making under stress.

Ricardo Reyes (Preceptors:  Merril Silverstein and Jack McArdle)
Department of Psychology
USC

My research interests include studying the application of quantitative methods in identification of factors that lead to feelings of hopelessness, chronic depression and/or anxiety. More specifically, I’m interested in the development and refinement of applicable psychometric instruments used to both make inferences about and diagnose aging and minority populations. By taking a diverse set of methodology courses, I hope to further narrow my area of concentration.

Nitzan Roth (Preceptor, Wendy Mack)
Department of Preventive Medicine
Keck School of Medicine
USC

I am currently a 5th-year M.D./Ph.D. student in the Epidemiology division of the Department of Preventive Medicine at USC.  My dissertation research will focus on the relationship between diet and cardiovascular disease.  In particular, I am interested in the effects of specific fatty acids on the risk of cardiovascular disease and whether those effects vary by gender or ethnicity or, in women, after menopause.  My current research projects include:

(1) an analysis of the effects of diet on the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis, quantified using carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), in postmenopausal women using longitudinal data from three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled atherosclerosis regression trials completed at the Atherosclerosis Research Unit at USC; and

(2) an analysis of the effects of diet on the risk of morbidity and mortality from acute myocardial infarction and stroke in the California portion of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC).

I am originally from Boca Raton, Florida.  In 2003 I received a B.S. in Applied and Computational Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Kathryn Thomas (Preceptor, Kathleen Wilber)

I am a second-year Ph.D student with an M.S. in Gerontology and a B.S. in Systems Engineering.  My research interests include improving the effectiveness and efficiency of long-term care services, health policy and assistive technology.  

Specifically, I have been studying ways in which the Minimum Data Set (MDS) can best be used to support long term care rebalancing initiatives to transition individuals out of nursing homes.  Additionally, during the summer of 2007, I did a research internship at the NIA-funded Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) at Georgia Tech University.  We studied the products, services and strategies that older adults use or foresee using to maintain their home and their independent lifestyle.  In another study, we compared older adult versus younger adults’ abilities to interpret graphical information on the computer.

During the 2007-2008 academic year, I plan to continue my MDS research, take the qualifying exam and propose a dissertation topic.

Sarinnapha (Fah) Vasunilashorn (Preceptor, Caleb Finch)

My research focuses on the biodemography and epidemiology of aging. I am particularly interested in the role of inflammation on physical functioning and disability in later life. Currently, I am involved in projects using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the InCHIANTI (“Invecchiare in Chianti,” aging in the Chianti area) Study, and the ‘Tsimane of Bolivia project.