Overview
I am a Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute and Co-Director of the Biodemography of Aging Research Unit at Duke University. I am a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries. My research expertise includes modeling and forecasting for biomedical demography and health/LTC actuarial practice. My expertise in these areas is evidenced by my five books, five monographs, 151 scientific articles, 84 actuarial publications, and my service on the 2007 Technical Panel on Assumptions and Methods of the Social Security Advisory Board, my 2007–2010 position as Deputy Editor of the scientific journal Demography, my winning of the Society of Actuaries’ Edward A. Lew Award in 2008 for the best paper in actuarial modeling (in the LTC area), and my 2011–2012 position as a Member of the NAS/IOM Panel on Measuring Medical Care Risk. My expertise in these areas is further evidenced by my scientific contributions in the areas of mortality, morbidity/disability, Alzheimer’s disease, biodemography of aging, and epidemiology and modeling. I was responsible for developing new algorithms for imputing missing assessments of cognitive impairments (CI) among institutionalized participants in the 1984 NLTCS—a critical step in the discovery of unexpectedly large declines in CI prevalence (compared to ADL declines) during 1984–2004. I was also responsible for the development of the longitudinal Grade of Membership model now being used for Alzheimer’s disease progression in collaboration with Yaakov Stern at Columbia University.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Genetics of Human Longevity From Incomplete Data: New Findings From the Long Life Family Study.
Journal Article The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · October 2018 The special design of the Long Life Family Study provides a unique opportunity to investigate the genetics of human longevity by analyzing data on exceptional lifespans in families. In this article, we performed two series of genome wide association studie ... Full text CiteHidden heterogeneity in Alzheimer's disease: Insights from genetic association studies and other analyses.
Journal Article Experimental gerontology · July 2018 Despite evident success in clarifying many important features of Alzheimer's disease (AD) the efficient methods of its prevention and treatment are not yet available. The reasons are likely to be the fact that AD is a multifactorial and heterogeneous healt ... Full text CiteTime Trends in the Prevalence of Neurocognitive Disorders and Cognitive Impairment in the United States: The Effects of Disease Severity and Improved Ascertainment.
Journal Article J Alzheimers Dis · 2018 BACKGROUND: Trends in the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) based on cognitive assessment instruments are often inconsistent with those of neurocognitive disorders (ND) based on Medicare claims records. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that improved ascert ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Genetic Modulations of Morbidity Compression: A Population-Based Study
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2020 - 2026Personalized genetic profiles of risk and resilience in Alzheimer's and vascular diseases
ResearchSenior Investigator · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2020 - 2026Racial and Geographic Disparities in Risk and Survival of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: Effects of Over/UnderDiagnosis and Disease Severity
ResearchSenior Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2025View All Grants