Education

• PhD, Sociology (Demography), University of Michigan, 2009
• BA, Sociology, Arizona State University, 2003

Research

• Social Determinants of Health
• Health Disparities
• Neighborhoods and Health
• Aging and the Life Course
• Social Relationships
• Social Demography

Affiliations

• Fellow, USC Schaeffer Center

Overview

Jennifer Ailshire, PhD, is Professor of Gerontology and Sociology, Associate Dean of Research, and Associate Dean of International Programs and Global Initiatives at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. She is also an affiliate of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and of the USC Population Research Center.

Ailshire’s research addresses questions that lie at the intersections of social stratification, urban sociology, and the sociology of health and aging. Her research focuses on the importance of the neighborhood environment and social relationships in determining health over the life course. A consistent theme throughout her work is an interest in gender, socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic inequality in health. Current projects include research on the links between air pollution and health in older adults, neighborhood determinants of racial and ethnic health disparities, and social factors associated with poor sleep.

She serves as co-director of the USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health, the Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Related Dementias Resource Center for Minority Aging Research, and the Network on Life Course and Health Dynamics and Disparities (NIA Network). She also co-directs the Gerontology Enriching Medicine, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (GEMSTEM) to Enhance Diversity in Aging program and the T32 Multidisciplinary Research Training in Gerontology program. Ailshire is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a recipient of the USC Provost’s Mentoring Award, and a recipient of the USC Mentoring Award in the graduate students category.