People
George Shannon, MSG, PhD, was a Teaching Professor, Inaugural Holder of the Kevin Xu Chair in Gerontology and Director of the Rongxiang Xu Regenerative Life Science Research Lab at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He taught 14 different courses at the Leonard Davis School, published seven peer-reviewed papers that investigated innovative ways to provide long-term care services to under-served older adults living in the community, in nursing homes and in assisted living, lectured at meetings and conferences in China and the U.S. and authored or co-authored 15 grant proposals and final reports to funding organizations, such as the California Healthcare Foundation, Kaiser-Permanente and the Motion Picture & Television Foundation. In addition, he was an editor or reviewer for five top-rated Gerontology and Geriatrics Journals. Moreover, for 30 years he worked as an actor in Chicago, New York, Paris and Los Angeles, performing in theater, films and television. He studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York and Los Angeles and with Josephine Forsberg at Second City in Chicago.
Yifei Yin, MSG
Research Coordinator
Contact:
Email: yiny@usc.edu
Yifei Yin has a Master of Science degree in Gerontology from the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California (USC). Yifei was born and raised in Changchun, China. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in Management Science in 2013. Yifei is a member of Sigma Phi Omega, the National Academic Honor and Professional Society in Gerontology. At USC, Yifei studied Lifespan Psychology, Sociology, and Policy for Aging Populations. She has been a member of the Rongxiang Xu Regenerative Life Science Lab since 2015. From the beginning of her involvement with the RxX Lab, she has utilized her management science background to coordinate the research efforts of the RxX Lab in various projects, from the dissemination of stem cell research and the economic market growth of evidence-based research to the use of Feng Shui techniques in enhancing older adults’ home modification outcomes. Her work involves coordinating the RxX Lab’s efforts to improve the lives and home environments of various cultural and ethnic communities in the Los Angeles area. Currently, she is functioning as a community liaison, working to develop and implement studies that focus on the quality of life and well-being of Chinese American, community-dwelling older adults living in the Los Angeles area.
Mengzhao Yan, MA
Collaborator
Contact:
Email: mengzhay@usc.edu
Mengzhao Yan is a PhD Candidate at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. After receiving his master’s degree in aging services management, Mengzhao worked as a staff member at the Gerontology School, where part of his duties was serving as the Senior Lab Assistant at the USC Rongxiang Xu Regenerative Life Science Lab. Prior to coming to the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology in 2018, he worked as a researcher and an administrator at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China. He is dedicated to studying how to optimize services, programs, and products to improve older persons’ health and well-being and support them aging in place. He is particularly interested in home modification, fall prevention, long-term care services and support, minority aging, and organizational behavioral issues related to aging. At the 2020 and 2021 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Conference, his poster presentations were nominated twice as one of the Finalists for the Society’s Social Research Policy Practice (SRPP) Section Outstanding Student Poster Award. He holds a California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE) Administrator License.
Guoxin Tao, PhD
Visiting Scholar
Guoxin Tao, PhD, has a Bachelor of Science in Medicinal Chemistry from the Beijing Medical University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and a PhD from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College. From 2002-2009 Tao was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Pathology where he participated in the design and evaluation of new antidepressant with respect to Eugenol, an active principle of Rhizoma acori graminei (RAG), a medicinal herb used in Asia for the treatment of symptoms reminiscent of Alzheimer’s disease. His study provided for the first time a scientific rationale for the traditional use of botanical RAG for the treatment of one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric comorbidities of Alzheimer’s disease: depression. In addition, while working at Harvard, he designed and developed pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence. Two Patents have been derived from this project. This study led to the finding of several potent lead candidates, which were further developed with the collaborator, CV Therapeutics Inc. Finally, compound CVT- 10216 was found to reduce drinking and prevent relapse in preclinical rodent models, as well as in other drug addiction models. Compound CVT-10216 was selected as the candidate for clinical study. In 2010 and 2011, he was a senior scientist and scientific assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Beijing Rongxiang Institute of Regenerative Medicine, researching and developing in situ regenerative medicine. He is currently, a senior research scientist at Skingenix, investigating the action mechanism of an innovative herbal wound ointment in the regenerative treatment of various wounds.