Faculty Directory
A key goal of the center is to bring together faculty working on cutting edge research in topics related to healthy aging. Currently, more than 50 faculty across 4 colleges and 14 departments are working in aging research. Please email healthyaging@colostate.edu if you are interested in finding out more about the Center or having your information included on this page.
| Name | Research Area | Research Expertise | Department | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jianguo Zhao | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Design and control of robotics devices | Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering |
| Stu Tobet | Comparative Aging; Biology and Physiology of Aging | Structures in the brain that control neuroendocrine functions; Microbiome and aging | School of Biomedical Engineering | College of Engineering |
| Zhijie Wang | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Cardiovascular biomechanics at different scales (single segment of artery to whole organs including the heart and lungs) | Mechanical Engineering | College of Engineering |
| Allyson Brothers | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Promotion of healthy aging throughout the lifespan; attitudes toward aging and awareness of age-related change; the influence of attitudes toward aging on health, well-being, and health behaviors; rural aging experiences | Human Development and Family Studies | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Laura Malinin | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Age-related cognitive decline and enriched environments | Design and Merchandising | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Chris Gentile | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Novel treatments to preserve endothelial function in aging | Food Science and Human Nutrition | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Sarah Johnson | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Functional foods, cardiovascular disease and post-menopausal women | Food Science and Human Nutrition | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Tom LaRocca | Comparative Aging; Biology and Physiology of Aging; Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Biological Mechanisms of Aging, Interventions for Increasing Healthspan | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Chris Bell | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Diabetes; control of blood glucose in aging | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Barry Braun | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Effects of physical activity and pharmacology on prevention and management of type 2 diabetes | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Frank Dinenno | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Regulation of blood flow and how the basic control mechanisms become impaired with aging and disease | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Brett Fling | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Neuromechanics, brain imaging, gait and balance in Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Aging | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Karyn Hamilton | Comparative Aging; Biology and Physiology of Aging | Integrative approach to studying age-associated chronic diseases, primarily focused on how to maintain muscle, both skeletal and cardiac, over the lifespan | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Dan Lark | Biology and Physiology of Aging | The contribution of secreted extracellular vesicles (i.e., exosomes) to age-related metabolic disease | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Heather Leach | Biology and Physiology of Aging; Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Physical activity interventions to minimize recurrence and optimize physical health and well-being in cancer survivors | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Neha Lodha | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Neurophysiology and motor skill rehabilitation in stroke and TIA | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Brian Tracy | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Examining the mechanisms that explain neuromuscular decline with aging and the physical functional consequences of the changes | Health and Exercise Science | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Allison Bielak | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Normal and pathological cognitive changes in adulthood; influence of lifestyle factors on cognitive aging; intraindividual variability in cognitive speed and how it relates to cognitive ability, health, and possible dementia prediction | Human Development and Family Studies | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Aga Burzynska | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Interconnections between brain structure and function, cognitive functioning, and physical health in older age | Human Development and Family Studies | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Manfred Diehl | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Awareness of age-related change and its role in successful aging; personality development in adulthood and its contribution to successful aging; experience and regulation of emotion in adulthood | Human Development and Family Studies | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Christine Fruhauf | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Grandparent and grandchild relationships; grandparents raising grandchildren; GLBT grandparenting | Human Development and Family Studies | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Gloria Luong | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Socioemotional dynamics and emotion regulation across the life-span; emotional and physiological stress reactivity and recovery; developmental links between social relationships, emotions, health, and well-being | Human Development and Family Studies | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Karen Atler | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Satisfaction and meaningfulness of time use and everyday activity | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Anita Bundy | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Fitness to drive; everyday time use | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Aaron Eakman | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Meaningfulness of everyday activity; behavioral (i.e., non-pharmacological) interventions to promote sleep | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Matt Malcolm | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Self-management of chronic conditions esp. diabetes in primary care settings. Management of big data sets esp. related to responsiveness to therapeutic interventions | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Mackenzi Pergolotti | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Occupational therapy interventions for older adults with cancer; policy and management of large data sets esp. related to uptake of therapeutic interventions; disparities in access to health care | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Arlene Schmid | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Complementary and integrative therapies such as yoga for fall prevention in older adults and people with stroke or other neuro conditions; self-management of chronic conditions | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Wendy Wood | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Long term care residential care for dementia; animal-assisted interventions for older adults | Occupational Therapy | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Eunhee Choi | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Aging, health, and policy, particularly for older workers and volunteers; research methodology and program evaluation. | Social Work | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| Jennifer Portz | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Public health, gerontology, and the use of technology interventions with older adults. | Social Work | College of Health and Human Sciences |
| James Bamburg | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Role of the actin cytoskeleton in neuronal growth and regeneration, pathfinding, and in neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Eric Ross | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Yeast prions as a model for amyloid diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and transmissible spongiform encephalopathies | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Michael Thomas | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Schizophrenia, aging, and dementia; Development of tests to improve the collection and interpretation of cognitive and brain imaging data | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Tingting Yao | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Regulatory mechanisms in DNA repair and gene expression; ubiquitin signaling in macroautophagy | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Shrideep Pallickara | Age-Friendly Engineering, Design and Rehabilitation | Cloud computing, distributed systems, content distribution networks, streaming systems | Computer Science | College of Natural Sciences |
| Jeanette Cleveland | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Understanding self and other age-related perceptions (and also affect and behavior) that influence the decisions, productivity and well-being of (and regarding) middle aged and older workers | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Deana Davalos | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Understanding the development of time processing abilities over the life span, including older adults, with emphasis on processing time accurately | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Ed DeLosh | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Aging and memory, including effects of physical fitness on age-related declines in memory | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Gwen Fisher | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Health and well-being among older workers; retirement, work ability, and prolonged working life; work/non-work interface, including work/non-work conflict, enhancement, and work/life balance. | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Matt Rhodes | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Understanding individual differences in memory, including the impact of healthy aging on memory function | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Silvia Sara Canetto | Cognitive, Brain, and Behavioral Aging | Cultural scripts of suicide and hastened death, and the paradox of US older-adult White men's suicide vulnerability. Stereotypes of gender, sexual orientation, and aging. | Psychology | College of Natural Sciences |
| Susan Bailey | Comparative Aging; Biology and Physiology of Aging | Role of chromosomes and telomeres in cancer and other human disease states, tumorigenesis and aging | Biomedical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Adam Chicco | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Various aspects of heart health and disease from the molecular to systemic levels and relation to aging | Biomedical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Frederic Hoerndli | Biology and Physiology of Aging | C. elegans genetics and in vivo microscopy to study synaptic aging and neurodegeneration | Biomedical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Seonil Kim | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Neurobiological mechanisms in Aging and Alzheimer’s disease | Biomedical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Julie Moreno | Biology and Physiology of Aging; Comparative Aging | Cellular stress mechanisms in protein misfolding neurodegenerative diseases and aging | Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Mike Tamkun | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Neuronal response to stroke/ischemia. Cell biology of traumatic brain injury | Biomedical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Susan Tsunoda | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Drosophila genetics to study neurodegenerative disease; Aging and Alzheimer’s disease | Biomedical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Ron Tjalkens | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Neuroinflammatory mechanisms in neurodegenerative disorders, particularly disorders of the basal ganglia such as manganism and Parkinson’s disease | Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Edward Hoover | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Prion biology | Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Candace Mathiason | Comparative Aging; Biology and Physiology of Aging | Examining the impact that physical and mental functioning have on the health disparities (e.g., chronic diseases) experienced by older adult Latinos and their caregivers | Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Kelly Santangelo | Biology and Physiology of Aging; Comparative Aging | Osteoarthritis, aging, and obesity: Translational analyses that combine therapeutic interventions with molecular mechanisms, advanced imaging, and assessments of mobility | Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Glenn Telling | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Mechanism of prion replication, prion species barriers and strain diversity, and the molecular basis of inherited human prion diseases | Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Mark Zabel | Biology and Physiology of Aging | Early lymphoid system distribution of prions and employs vector systems expressing prion-targeted interfering RNA molecules as therapeutic strategies for prion infections | Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Felix Duerr | Comparative Aging | Small animal musculoskeletal problems, including arthritis, sports injury treatment and prevention; canine-to-human translational applications | Department of Clinical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Stephanie McGrath | Comparative Aging | Seizure and spinal cord disorders, inflammatory brain diseases; canine-to-human translational applications | Department of Clinical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
| Nicole Ehrhart | Comparative Aging, Biology and Physiology of Aging | Translational aging, limb preservation, tissue engineering, and sarcoma research; bone and muscle regenerative medicine; canine-to-human translational applications | Department of Clinical Sciences | College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences |
