Gerontology (GERO)
This interdisciplinary program is sponsored jointly by:
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
Program Faculty:
(The list includes all affiliates from both UMBC and UMB.)LESLIE MORGAN, Co-Director and Graduate Program Director
DENISE ORWIG, Co-Director
Professors
DICLEMENTE, CARLO C., (Psychology), Ph.D., University of Rhode Island; Health and addictive behavior change, compliance
ECKERT, J. KEVIN, (Sociology/Anthropology, Erickson School of Aging Studies), Ph.D.,Northwestern University; Aging and longterm care, social/cultural gerontology, research design/qualitative methods, environment and aging, caregiving
GOLDBERG, ANDREW P., (Medicine), M.D.,State University of New York, Brooklyn; Metabolic and cardiovascular functioning in the aging
KITTNER, STEVEN, (Medicine), M.D., M.P.H., University of Pennsylvania; Neuro-epidemiology with primary focus on stroke epidemiology
MAGAZINER, JAY, (Medicine), Ph..D, M.S., Hyg., University of Chicago; Epidemiology, hip fracture recovery, long-term care, methods for studying older people, psychosocial aspects of health
MILLER, NANCY A., (Public Policy), Ph.D., University of Chicago; Health policy and politics, disability and aging, long-term care
MITCHELL, BRAXTON D., (Medicine), Ph.D., University of Michigan; Epidemiology of aging, genetic epidemiology of complex diseases
MORGAN, LESLIE A., (Sociology/ Anthropology, Erickson School), Ph.D., University of Southern California; Older women, later-life families, housing for the frail elderly
MORTON, PATRICIA GONCE, RN, (Nursing), Ph.D., ACNP, FAAN, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Critical care, cardiovascular acute and critical care electrocardiology
PICOT, SANDRA FULTON, (Nursing) Ph.D.,University of Maryland, Baltimore; Family caregivers of the elderly, African-American caregivers, health disparities
RESNICK, BARBARA, (Nursing), Ph.D., C.R.N.P., F.A.A.N., F.A.A.N.P., University of Maryland, Baltimore; Motivation in older adults, particularly with regard to functional activities
RODGERS, MARY, (Medicine), Ph.D., P.T., Pennsylvania State University; Physical performance measures, aerobic exercise in stroke patients
RONCH, JUDAH L., (The Erickson School) Ph.D., Yeshiva University; Effects of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, long term care industry
SHULDINER, ALAN R., (Medicine), M.D., Harvard Medical School; Genetics of agerelated diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension and osteoporosis
STUART, BRUCE, (Pharmacy) Ph.D., Washington State University; Geriatric drug use, health economics, health services research, pharmaceutical policy
TERRIN, MICHAEL, (EPM Gerontology) MD, CM, MPH, Johns Hopkins University; Clinical Trails, pulmonary disease, cardiovascular epidemiology, data coordinating center
WALDSTEIN, SHARI R., (Psychology), Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Cardiovascular disease and cognitive aging
WALZ, BRUCE J., (Emergency Health Services), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Emergency medical services, health care provider education
WEISS, SHEILA SMITH, (Pharmacy) Ph.D., FISPE, University of Maryland; Pharmaceutical risk, risk identification, risk management
WHITALL, JILL, (Medicine), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Development and learning of inter-limb coordination
ZUCKERMAN, ILENE, (Pharmacy), Ph.D., University of Maryland; Medication appropriateness in the elderly
Associate Professors
ALON, GAD, (Medicine), Ph.D, University of Maryland, College Park; Physical and functional performance in advanced age
BAUMGARTEN, MONA, (Medicine), Ph.D., McGill University; Aging, epidemiologic methods, pressure ulcers, dementia
DEFORGE, BRUCE R., (Social Work), Ph.D., University of Maryland College Park; Sociology of mental health, psychosocial aspects of health, patient-provider relationships
FORRESTER, LARRY, (Medicine), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Stroke rehabilitation using exercise protocols
GRUBER-BALDINI, ANN, (Medicine), Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; Gerontology, cognitive functioning, long-term care, lifespan development
JOHANTGEN, MARY ELLEN, (Nursing), R.N., Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University;Quality of nursing home care, health services research
KATZEL, LESLIE, (Medicine), M.D., Ph.D., University of Maryland, School of Medicine;Exercise and weight loss interventions on cardiac risk factors in the elderly
KELLEHER, CATHERINE, (Nursing), Sc.D., M.P.H., M.S., R.N., The Johns Hopkins University; Health policy, home- and community-based care
MYSLINSKI, NORBERT R., (Dental), Ph.D. University of Illinois; Neuroscience of aging
NAHM, EUN-SHIM, (Nursing), RN, Ph.D., University of Maryland, Baltimore; Health care informatics and gerontology, using computer technology to improve the health-related quality of life of older adults
SCHUMACHER, JOHN G., (Sociology/ Anthropology), Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University; Ethics, decision-making, hospital quality of care
SHAUGHNESSY, MARIANNE, (Nursing), Ph.D., C.R.N.P., University of Pennsylvania; Geriatric rehabilitation, stroke recovery, motivation to exercise
SORKIN, JOHN, (Medicine), M.D., Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Changes that occur with aging in metabolism, biostatistics, informatics
Assistant Professors
ALLEY, DAWN,, (Medicine), PhD, University of Southern California; How lifecourse social and biological influences drive health disparities
BROWN, JESSICA, (Medicine). PhD, UMBC; relations among menopausal vasomotor symptoms, sleep disturbance and mood
CASADO, BANGHWA, (Social Work), Ph.D., MSW, University of Houston; Communication-based Long-term Care, immigration and cultural adjustment
DE MEDEIROS, KATHRYN, (Center for Aging Studies), PhD, UMBC; narratives, memory, qualitative research methods
GALIK, BETH, (Nursing), PhD., RN, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Assisted living; dementia
HUANG, YI, (Mathematics/Psychology), Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University; Casual inference, estimating treatment, intervention, exposure effect
MACMILLAN, KELLEY R., (Social Work), Ph.R., ACSW, The University of Kansas; Health, aging, evaluation of State community-based services for older adults
MCARDLE, PATRICK, (Medicine), Ph.D., University of Maryland Baltimore; Data architecture and data mining application as relevant to large genome wide analyses
MICHAEL, KATHERINE, (Nursing), PhD, RN, CRRN, The Johns Hopkins University; stroke, function
MILLER, RAM (Medicine), MD, CM, MSC, FRCPC, University of Maryland; Functional decline in the elderly NAHM, EUN-SHIM, (Nursing), Ph.D. University of Maryland, Baltimore; Informatics, computer technology to improve the health-related quality of life of older adults
ORWIG, DENISE L., (Medicine), Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; Bio-behavioral aspects of aging, pharmaco-epidemiology
QUINN, CHARLENE C., (Medicine), Ph.D., R.N., The Johns Hopkins University; Health services research and policy related to longterm care
SACCO, PAUL, (Social Work), PhD, LCSW.,Washington University in St. Louis; substance abuse, problem gambling, research methods
SECKIN, GUL, (Sociology/Anthropology), Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University; Sociology of trauma and mental health, health communication, political sociology
SHAYA, FADIA T. (Pharmacy and Medicine), Ph.D., M.P.H., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Geriatric/vulnerable populations drug use, chronic disease, drug safety, pharmaco-economics and pharmaco-epidemiology, community partnerships
FERRUCCI, LUIGI, Ph.D., University of Florence, Italy; Casual pathways leading to progressive physical and cognitive decline in older persons
Degree Offered:
Ph.D.
Program Description
The Doctoral Program in Gerontology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Graduate School, provides an interdisciplinary and integrative perspective on the process of human aging and the experiences of growing old. The approach acknowledges the complex, dynamic and bi-directional relationship between individuals and the historical, political, economic, environmental, psychological, social, cultural and biological contexts in which aging occurs. Program emphases include socio-cultural and behavioral gerontology, the health of older persons and populations, and policy for the elderly. The goal of the program is to train a new generation of scholars conversant with interdisciplinary and integrative paradigms and research designs to examine the unique, reciprocal and dynamic nature of aging in context.
UMB’s seven professional schools (dental, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health and social work) and UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences departments (economics, emergency health services, geography and environmental systems, public policy, psychology and sociology/anthropology) combine to make this mission possible by offering three concentrations of study: social, cultural and behavioral sciences; epidemiology of aging; and policy for the elderly.
The program also offers a combined program between gerontology and applied sociology and a dual degree program between gerontology and epidemiology. Students can earn a doctorate in gerontology and a master's in sociology or epidemiology.
Degree Requirements
The minimum requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Gerontology is a total of 61 credit hours distributed as follows:
Core: (21 credit hours)GERO 672: Issues in Aging Policy
GERO 681: Epidemiology of Aging
GERO 700: Socio-cultural Gerontology
GERO 711: Biology of Aging
GERO 672: Issues in Aging Policy
GERO 786: Psychological Aspects of Aging
GERO 681: Epidemiology of Aging
GERO 750: Gerontology Theory and Methods Seminar I
GERO 751: Gerontology Theory and Methods Seminar II
Research Methods/Statistics: (12 credit hours)
- Six credits of foundations in statistics/methods (from an approved list and appropriate to research specialization)
- Six credits of advanced disciplinary analytical courses based on research specialization
Track Specialization: (nine credit hours)
Students will select from a customized menu of specialization courses.
Electives: (six credit hours)
Courses to be selected from the remaining pool of applicable courses in aging in consultation with the major advisor.
Ethics Course: (one credit)
A course focusing on professional and research ethics
Dissertation: (18 credits)
Research on doctoral dissertation under the direction of a faculty advisor.
Comprehensive Examination:
An examination of core gerontological knowledge, focusing on the content of core courses listed above. Typically to be completed at the end of the second year by full-time students, upon successful completion of all core courses.
Program Admission
Admission is competitive. Applications are accepted for fall admission only. All application materials must be received by Feb. 1 of the year in which the student intends to enroll. Three letters of recommendation, GRE scores, transcripts, a written statement and personal interview are required of all applicants. The TOEFL is required for all international students who do not have a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a U.S. institution. All original application documents must be sent directly to the Graduate School, not to the graduate program.
Anyone interested in applying should contact:
Justine Golden
Academic Coordinator, UMB
660 W. Redwood St., HH 200,
Baltimore, MD 21201
or jgold002@umaryland.edu
Resources and Facilities
Faculty research and instruction spans the College of Arts and Sciences and schools of law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and social work. Research centers and programs contributing to the program include: the Baltimore Hip Studies, the Center for Health Program Development and Management, the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, the Erickson School of Aging Studies, the Geriatrics and Gerontology Education and Research Program, the Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center, the Law and Health Program, the Long-Term Care Project, the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, the Peter Lamy Center for Drug Therapy and Aging, and the University of Maryland Center for Research on Aging.
Financial Assistance
The program’s commitment is to fund students in their first year and to make every effort to provide funding in the second year. Such funding may involve state support and/or extramural research. Every effort will be made to fund students for subsequent years in the program; however, such funding is contingent on grant funds and the match of faculty and student research interests. As such, students are encouraged to work with their advisors to secure funding beyond their initial two years in the program.
Even though we cannot guarantee funding after the first year, the program has been successful in funding our students in subsequent years. In the first five years of the program, we have successfully funded 81 percent of our second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-year full-time students. An additional 11 percent were able to secure their own funding.
COURSE LISTING
Core Courses
GERO 672
Issues in Aging Policy [3]
This is an upper-level undergraduate or introuductory graduate course on issues in aging policy. It provides an overview of the salient issues in aging policy and provides the student with a context for understanding the public policy process. The course will provide basic information and knowledge that will be useful to the student in more advanced policy-related studies in aging and health. Note: Also listed as SOCY 672.
GERO 681
Epidemiology of Aging [3]
This core course covers applications of the principle and methods of epidemiology and preventive medicine to the study of aging. There is a review of health assessment techniques that are potentially useful for conducting epidemiological studies of older people; the epidemiology of selected diseases common to old age; primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, as applied to older people, focusing on psycho-social and environmental aspects of health; and differing ideas of long-term care and its role in the prevention, intervention and treatment of illness in older people. Students learn how to evaluate and present research in a specific area of gerontological epidemiology with faculty supervision. Note: Also listed as PREV 681.
GERO 700
Sociocultural Gerontology [3]
A required advanced interdisciplinary seminar addressing the fundamental concepts, theories and interests of social scientific inquiry on aging and the aged. Topics include: social demographic aspects of aging in the United States and elsewhere; the cultural contexts of age as a basis for social status, stratification and social organization; societal change and aging; the history and development of social scientific theory and methodology in gerontology.
GERO 711
Biology of Aging [3]
This course provides opportunities to learn about several aspects of biological aging. They include what it is; how it happens; what effects it has on the structure and operations of the human body; how it affects social, psychological and other aspects of life; how it is related to diseases; and what can be done about it.
GERO 786
Psychological Aspects of Aging [3]
A core course that examines psychological and biological changes associated with aging. The topics of the course include theories of aging, research methods of aging, learning, memory, intelligence and problemsolving, personality, stress and coping with illness. Emphasis is placed on the contribution of longitudinal studies to understanding the individual aging process. Note: Also listed as PSYC 786.
Required Methods Courses
GERO 750
Gerontology Theory/Methods Seminar I [3]
The first of a two-semester sequence integrating theory and methods in gerontology. The course provides students with the information and skills to think like a gerontologist, using both theory and methods unique to the field and understanding the language and techniques used by a wide range of gerontological researchers. Students completing this sequence will be able to approach problems from an interdisciplinary perspective, “speak the language” of gerontology across disciplinary barriers of jargon, employ the work of contributing disciplines in their own research and work as part of an interdisciplinary research team.
GERO 751
Gerontology Theory and Methods Seminar II [3]
The second of a two-semester sequence integrating theory and methods in gerontology. The course provides students with the information and skills to think like a gerontologist. Key to these understandings is reading, evaluating and understanding the connections between research questions, theory and appropriate methods of research. Application of critical thinking skills and being able to bridge both linguistic and methodological variations in an interdisciplinary field are emphasized. Students completing this sequence will be able to employ the work of contributing disciplines in their own research, produce a “real world” proposal for research and work as part of an interdisciplinary research team.
Electives
GERO 703
Policy Analysis of Aging Issues [3]
This required core course will help students understand how and why aging policies reflect the political system in which they are enacted and implemented. Further, students will learn how research can inform and possibly transform the policy process.
GERO 742
Economics of Aging [3]
The main objective of this course is to provide students with the basic tools necessary to understand, critique and evaluate alternatives to issues in aging that have economic implications. The course is divided into four main sections. The first part of the course familiarizes students with tools used in microeconomic analysis. This section will also provide students with necessary computer related activities to obtain and process data for economic/policy analysis. The second part of the course will focus on understanding issues at the macro level. Accordingly, this part will address the nature and magnitude of the current issues, implications of these issues for the future and issues that need to be addressed to increase income and health security in old age. The third part of the course will examine the circumstances under which current programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other related welfare programs that address economic and health security in old age were implemented, their performance under current circumstances and issues related to their continuation. The final part of the course is designed to view issues discussed in prior units through an aging or life-course perspective that emphasizes the impact of events and issues in younger ages on income and health security in old age.
GERO 801
Independent Study [1-3]
The student selects a topic of professional interest and studies with a graduate faculty member who is competent in that field. Students will investigate issues related to the elderly in-depth.
Dissertation
GERO 898
Pre-Candidacy Doctoral Research [3-9]
Research on doctoral dissertation conducted under the direction of a faculty advisor before candidacy.
GERO 899
Doctoral Dissertation Research [9]
Research on doctoral dissertation under the direction of a faculty advisor. Note: A minimum of 18 credit hours are required for the Ph.D. degree.
Other Available Courses from Various Departments
ECON 611: Econometric Methods I [3]ECON 612: Econometric Methods II [3]
EDUC 605: The Adult Learner [3]
LAW 503K: Health Care Law and Policy [3]
LAW 548B: Critical Issues in Health Care [3]
NURS 816: Multi-variate Analysis in Social and Health Care Research [3]
NURS 817: Longitudinal Designs in Health Care Research[3]
NURS 826: Structural Modeling in Health Care Research [3]
PUBL/SOCY 605: Advanced Research and Evaluation Techniques [3]
PUBL 607: Statistical Applications in Evaluation Research [3]
PUBL 618: Issues in Health Care Finance and Service Delivery [3]
PUBL 672: Issues in Aging Policy [3]
PSYC 606: Adult Psychopathology [3]
PSYC 653: Cultural Aspects of Human Development [3]
PSYC 711: Multi-variate Statistics [3]
PREV 600: Principles of Epidemiology [3]
PREV 620: Principles of Biostatistics [3]
PREV 619: Biostatistical Computing [2]
PREV 648: Health Care Administration/Evaluation [3]
PREV 659: Observational Studies in Epidemiology [3]
PREV 700: Cardiovascular Epidemiology [3]
PREV 720: Statistical Methods in Epidemiology [3]
PREV 705: Pharmaco-Epidemiology [3]
PREV 711: Genetic Epidemiology [3]
PREV 721: Regression Analysis [2]
PREV 723: Survival Analysis [2]
PREV 749: Infectious Disease Epidemiology [3]
PREV 758: Health Survey Research Methods [3]
PREV 769: Neuro-Epidemiology [3]
PREV 778: Musculo-Skeletal Epidemiology [3]
PREV 801: Longitudinal Analysis [3]
PREV 802: Statistics for Molecular Biology [2]
PREV 803: Clinical Trials and Experimental Epidemiology [3]
SOCY/PUBL 600: Research Methodology [3]
SOCY/PUBL 604: Statistical Analysis [3]
SOCY 608: Advanced Statistical Methods [3]
SOCY 610: Sample Surveys in Social Science [3]
SOCY 619: Qualitative Methods [3]
SOCY 620: Social Epidemiology [3]
SOCY 629: Aging in Cultural Context [3]
SOCY 630: Sociology of Aging [3]
SOCY 631: Family and Aging in Society [3]
SOCY 632: Work and Retirement [3]
SOCY 634: Gender and the Life Course [3]
SOWK 726: Aging and Social Policy [3]
SOWK 800: Social Welfare Policy [3]
*Courses selected in consultation with the faculty advisor