I am the Principal Investigator of the Vanderbilt University Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study (VUSNAPS).

VUSNAPS is a longitudinal study of the lives and networks of older LGBTQ adults in the South. The study is funded by the National Institute on Aging. Learn more at www.vusnaps.com.

I was recently featured on the PBS series

Aging Matters:

How discrimination can physically age you

The aims of the VUSNAPS Cognition Study are to learn more about the brain health of midlife and older LGBTQ+ adults, link their trajectories to experiences reported in VUSNAPS survey data, and identify predictors of variation in cognitive functioning among LGBTQ+ midlife and older adults. For this study, we have partnered with The Many Brains Project to collect key measures of cognitive functioning in midlife and later life.

Funding:

R01AG063771-05S1, the University of Texas, Austin, Center on Aging and Population Sciences (P30AG066614) and the Population Research Center (P2CHD042849), and Vanderbilt University.

sociologist. EDUCATOR.thought leader.

LGBTQ Affirming Care and Preventative Care

ASSOCIATION OF Affirming Care WITH CHRONIC DISEASE AND PREVENTATIVE CARE OUTCOMES AMONG OLDER lgbtq aDULTS

Extensions

VUSNAPS Cognition

The overarching aim of the VUSNAPS study is to test a new conceptual model of how social ties and policy contexts intervene in the minority stress to health pathway for LGBTQ+ older adults. This model integrates the minority stress, structural disadvantage, and social network/social support explanations for why we observe disparities in health and aging outcomes among older LGBTQ+ adults when compared to older cisgender heterosexual adults. I developed this model for two reasons: 1) to improve the rigor of measurement and assessment of social ties and support in applications of the minority stress model, which have typically been measured using general whole-network perceptions of support availability rather than detailed measures of how individual ties actually perform, and 2) to generate new flexibilities in the minority stress to health pathway that would help account for why many older LGBTQ+ adults are thriving despite minority stress exposures. This model brings the well-known minority stress framework more in line with a sociological view of the ways that individuals are shaped by and respond to their personal experiences, interpersonal relationships, and societal structures.

READ: VUSNAPS Wave 1 Community Research Summary.

The aims of the VUSNAPS BioAge Study is to learn more about how the aging experiences that participants reported in VUSNAPS survey data relate to their biological aging – that is, how their cells are aging. You can learn more about the kinds of measures we've collected here.

Funding:

R01AG063771-04S2, the University of Texas, Austin, Center on Aging and Population Sciences (P30AG066614) and the Population Research Center (P2CHD042849), and Vanderbilt University.