The McCormack Graduate School’s Gerontology Institute has welcomed 10 new fellows, all from the UMass Boston campus, who bring additional expertise in nursing and health sciences, public policy, sociology and economics to the organization.

“This move formalizes our collaboration with these individuals, which has been going on for a while,” said institute Director Len Fishman. “The overall growth in fellows reflects our growing research portfolio and the multidisciplinary nature of gerontology.”

The institute’s newest fellows also come from UMass Boston’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy within the McCormack Graduate School and the Institute for Community Inclusion.

In other recent expansions, the institute has welcomed as fellows a number of researchers and policy analysts from LeadingAge and Community Catalyst, organizations with whom it has formed strategic partnerships.

“We expect these additions to contribute to our ongoing effort to develop funded research projects that span many of the academic fields that contribute to basic and applied research in aging,” said Fishman. “The field of aging research depends on insights from many different perspectives.”

The latest addition increases the institute’s number of fellows to 40. “It’s a very rich mix and one of the larger clusters of aging-related researchers in the country,” said Fishman.

The newest fellows of the institute are:

  • Ann Bookman, former director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, a leading researcher and social policy expert on women’s issues, work-family balance and community engagement.
  • Janice Foust, an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences whose research focuses on improving post-hospital medication management and transition-related care of older adults.
  • Priscilla K. Gazarian, an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences whose research focuses on preventable hospital harms.
  • Laura Hayman, a professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences whose recent research includes life course behavioral medicine approaches to health promotion and disease prevention.
  • John Kramer, research associate at the Institute for Community Inclusion, a research and training institute based within the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development.
  • Haeok Lee, a professor in the College Nursing and Health Sciences, who has studied health disparities in minority populations, particularly immigrant populations.
  • Suzanne Leveille, a professor and associate dean of research at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences with an extensive background in geriatric nursing.
  • Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, interim director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, and interim director of the Gender, Leadership and Public Policy graduate certificate program.
  • Jason Rodriquez, an assistant professor of sociology in the College of Liberal Arts whose research aims to understand the organizational dynamics of health care provision.
  • Linda Thompson, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
  • Emily E. Wiemers, an associate professor of economics in the College of Liberal Arts who has published widely on intergenerational ties and economic well-being across the life course.
  • Tongjian You, a graduate program director and associate professor of College of Nursing and Health Sciences.