Description:

Northwestern Pepper Center, OAIC National Coordinating Center, and the Aging Initiative are pleased to present Pepper Center Rounds. Pepper Center Rounds are a venue to showcase high-quality research from scholars across the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers network. Please, join us!

"Climate, Environment, and Vulnerable Populations: Natural Disasters and their Effects on Nursing Home Residents"

Guest:

Brian Downer, PhD FACRM FGSA

Associate Professor

Lloyd and Sue Ann Hill Professorship in Healthy Aging

Department of Population Health & Health Disparities

School of Public and Population Health

Sealy Center on Aging

University of Texas Medical Branch

Bio:

Dr. Downer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities in the School of Public and Population Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch. His current roles include program director for the Rehabilitation Sciences and the Population Health Sciences doctoral programs, MPI of a long-standing NIA T32 training program in minority health and aging, and co-leader of the UTMB Pepper Center Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core. He also has an active research program investigating how exposures to social and environmental determinants of health over the life course influence the cognitive, physical, and mental health of older adults. For this research, Dr. Downer uses population-based cohort studies of aging, including the Health and Retirement Study, Mexican Health and Aging Study, and the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly. Dr. Downer also uses Medicare claims files to study the healthcare utilization of older adults, focusing on outcomes of post-acute and long-term care.