Brian Downer is a PhD-trained gerontologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities in the School of Public and Population Health. Dr. Downer's goal is to conduct research that will lead to interventions, clinical guidelines, and healthcare policies that can improve the health of older adults. To achieve this goal, he conducts research that intersects three distinct areas that he has developed over his career: (1) Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline; (2) population health and aging; and (3) Healthcare utilization by older adults.
Dr. Downer currently uses data from population-based cohort studies of aging to investigate life course risk factors for dementia, cognitive impairment, and cognitive decline. He also studies mental health outcomes, disability in activities of daily living, and mortality. In the last five years, he has added a focus on health services research. His current research involves using Medicare claims files to study outcomes of post-acute care for older adults and the differences in healthcare utilization by older adults with and without dementia.
In addition to his research, Dr. Downer is passionate about mentoring and training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. He is the program director for the Population Health Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences doctoral programs. He also co-directs an NIA training program that supports PhD students and postdoctoral fellows studying minority health and aging.
Affiliations
- Sealy Center on Aging
- Institute for Translational Sciences