What led you to the USC Leonard Davis School PhD in Gerontology and to your research focus?
Mengzhao Yan MASM ’19, PhD ’26: I grew up in an intergenerational family in Beijing and was primarily cared for by my paternal grandmother from infancy until I went to college. Because both of my parents had demanding work schedules, my grandmother volunteered to help care for me and support our entire family. I later came to understand that what she did reflected the concept of purposeful and productive aging. In college, I majored in Business Administration and English and originally envisioned a career in international business. However, the demographic shift toward an aging society motivated me to build on my undergraduate training in business administration and seek opportunities in the growing aging and health industry. As I began considering graduate study, I learned that the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology was the best place in the world to study aging-related topics. This led me to USC in 2018, and I enrolled in the Master of Aging Services Management program.
I greatly enjoyed my time at USC and at the School of Gerontology, and I wanted to deepen my understanding of the field. In 2021, I continued my studies by joining the PhD in Gerontology program. My research centers on studying how to optimize services, programs, and products to improve older adults’ health and well-being and support them in aging in place. In particular, my dissertation examines the service delivery and utilization of home modifications for aging in place from both the supply side, including service providers, and the demand side, including older adults and family caregivers. This applied perspective also reflects my background in business administration. My dissertation is chaired by Dr. John Walsh and Dr. Jon Pynoos. I have also been working with the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence, where I study home modifications alongside world-class colleagues.
During the course of your PhD research, have you reported findings that are striking or unexpected in some way?
My research provides some evidence that instead of modifying their home environments proactively, people tend to use home modifications in a reactive way to accommodate their declining functions. This finding has implications for practice, service delivery, and product development. It suggests the need to better promote home modification products and services to individuals with greater health care needs, while also increasing public awareness so that people can prepare more proactively for future needs.
I hope to continue building evidence on how home modifications can be delivered more effectively to support aging in place. I am interested in understanding how service delivery models can better connect older adults and families with the right home modification products, services, and professional support at the right time. I am also interested in exploring how AI can strengthen aging and health services delivery by helping identify people’s needs more precisely, match them with targeted resources, and ensure that individuals who need support can access the most appropriate services in a timely and efficient way.
What are some other meaningful experiences that you’ve had during your time here?
I feel deeply honored that I was named as a mentored teaching fellow through the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching, and I had the opportunity to serve as the instructor for two graduate-level courses: GERO 554, “Evaluation: Incorporating Evidence-Based Practices” in Spring 2025; and GERO 568, “Adaptive Age-Friendly Environments and Injury Prevention” in Fall 2025. I greatly enjoyed working with students and feel especially grateful to have developed meaningful mentoring relationships and friendships with them. I have also been recognized for teaching excellence through the Student Gerontology Association Teaching Assistant of the Year Award in 2025, nominated by my students, and the 2025 Teaching Assistant Award, nominated by faculty in the School of Gerontology.
What are your plans for after graduation?
I have been offered a postdoctoral research associate position in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In this role, I expect to expand my research by examining how to use technologies to create smarter home environments, support disability participations, optimize user experience of smart home technologies, and improve activity performance among older adults and persons with disabilities.
