Urban Health Equity: Predicting Future Needs in Aging
RETURN TO 2020/2021 IOG Report
Thomas B. Jankowski, PhD
Associate Director for Research
Politics and Policy of Aging
As associate director for research, Dr. Jankowski works to ensure that the faculty and staff of the IOG and the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute have the facilities, resources, and technical support to successfully conduct their research. In his own research, Dr. Jankowski partners with and is funded by local and regional units of government, state agencies, non-profit service providers, community-based organizations, and older adult advocacy groups to help them assess the needs of older adults and the effectiveness of the programs and services they deliver.
He chairs the board of directors of The Senior Alliance (Michigan Area Agency on Aging 1-C), and is vice president of the board of trustees of the Hannan Center in Detroit. He also serves on the boards of the Southeast Michigan Senior Regional Collaborative and the Baldwin Society for the Support of Older Adults. Through his involvement in these community-based organizations, Dr. Jankowski is working to develop affordable housing for older adults, to serve the needs of those struggling with loneliness and social isolation, and to measure the impact that supportive services have on the lives of older adults trying to maintain their independence in their homes and communities. Dr. Jankowski is also a WSU adjunct assistant professor of political science and gerontology.
Gail Jensen Summers, PhD
Co-Director, IOG Pre-doctoral Training
Health Economics
Dr. Jensen Summers co-directs IOG's Pre-Doctoral Training Program in Aging and Health. She mentors students enrolled in this program and oversees their progress, organizes IOG's bi-weekly research seminars, and coordinates the annual "Lifespan Alliance Research Day," showcasing the research conducted by graduate students.
Dr. Jensen Summers deftly combines a talent for teaching (she consistently ranks as one of the best economics teachers at WSU) with an instinct for important research projects. Her research focuses on analyzing the effects of health system reform on older adults and other vulnerable populations, as well as studying healthcare disparities, healthy aging, and the economics of health insurance. During the past two years, she co-authored eight peer-reviewed publications, several focused on Medicare and Medicaid benefits, and the effects of changes in these programs on the use of services and on health. Dr. Jensen Summers is the primary advisor to two doctoral students and serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Health Economics and Management.
Wassim Tarraf, MBA, PhD
Minority Health and Aging
Above: Dr. Wassim Tarraf who data set analysis is discussed in "Michigan Grapples with COVID-19's Disproportionate Impact on People of Color's Mental Health"
Dr. Tarraf is a gerontologist, methodologist, health services researcher, and policy analyst. In 2020, he earned a promotion to associate professor with tenure in the Eugene Appelbaum School of Pharmacy & Health Sciences. His research evaluates disparities in health, health behavior, and healthcare access and use in racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S., and investigates the social determinants of health and healthcare.
In the past two years, he has co-authored 26 peer-reviewed papers and is the principal investigator (on site) of five R01 grant projects. He is a member of the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Aging grant review panel. Most recently, he analyzed Census and other survey data to better understand the pandemics impact on the mental health of older Blacks, Asians and Hispanics. View full preliminary report here.
Dr. Tarraf is an affiliated investigator on the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, the largest epidemiological study of diverse Hispanic/Latinos in the US. Through this work, Dr. Tarraf leads the statistical analysis on studies of Latinos' cognitive aging and the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and two exploratory (R21) grants to examine sleep and blood pressure as risk factors for unhealthy aging among Latinos. He co-leads the Analysis Core of two Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research focused on training the next generation of researchers in minority health and enhancing the diversity of researchers in aging. He also mentors a post-doctoral fellow, two graduate students and three undergraduate students.