GREMAP folks attended the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) annual conference in Tampa earlier this month. We presented our work on a variety of topics on the intersections between aging and health, including mental heath, cognition, social isolation, and function limitation, as well as how this interacts with social and economic factors such as long-term care, retirement, and incarceration.

GREMAP presentations included:

“Incarceration History and its Association With Cognition and Isolation Among Older Black Americans”, presented by Eskira Kahsay.

“Correlates of Retirement Expectations Among Baby Boomers in US and South Korea: Applications of Tree-Based Methods”, presented by Linh Dang.

“Parental Transition to Long-term Care: Implications for Psychological Well-Being of Adult Children”, presented by Viktoryia Kalesnikava.

“Network Analysis of Objective and Subjective Indicators of Social Isolation and Functional Limitations”, presented by Chuwen Zhong.

“Nursing Home Expectations and Mental Health Among Older Adults in the Health and Retirement Study”, presented by Annalise Lane.

Overall, this year’s conference was a great opportunity to share our ongoing work with a gerontology-focused and interdisciplinary audience. Great work to everyone who presented and collaborated on these projects!

We are excited to share that a new article on the mental health impacts of type 2 diabetes, contributed to by Dr. Mezuk and the DMH study team, was published in Healthline this month. The article, titled “How Type 2 Diabetes Can Also Impact Your Mental Health”, discusses the complex, bi-directional relationship between type 2 diabetes and mental health disorders, including the role of stress, inflammation, stigma, and other physiological and social factors unique to the experience of folks with type 2 diabetes. The article also features excerpts from an interviews diabetes researchers, including Dr. Mezuk, that translate research findings to a more general audience. You can read the full article here.

GREMAP alum Dr. Natalie Bareis is the Project Manager for the recently-completed, SAMHSA-funded project “Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study.” These data provide the most up-to-date prevalence estimates of mental health outcomes in the U.S., including, notably, measures of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This data will be an incredible resource for researchers for years to come. A great example of how GREMAP alum are growing into leaders in the field of public mental health! Please see more details about the data resource here.

GREMAP attended the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) 2023 Conference in Milwaukee, WI in full force this past May. Hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Public Health Association, this conference aimed to bring together various NVDRS stakeholders to discuss findings from NVDRS and their implications for how NVDRS data can develop, expand, monitor, and sustain violence prevention programs, policies, and practices. Our presentations included:

• “Understanding the Utility and Limitations of the Narrative Texts in the National Violent Death Reporting System: Review and Recommendations”, co-presented by Linh Dang and Eskira Kahsay
• “Retirement-Related Suicide during the Great Recession: Perspectives from the National Violent Death Reporting System”, presented by Aparna Ananthasubramaniam
• “Area-level Income Polarization and Suicide and Deaths from Undertermined Intent”, presented by Viktoryia Kalesnikava
• “Leveraging machine-learning tools to explore salient themes related to suicide across the life course”, presented by Dr. Mezuk

Overall, the NVDRS Conference was a great opportunity to meet and interact with the other NVDRS stakeholders and are hopeful for collaborations in the future!

Above: The team arriving in Milwaukee via the Lake Express ferry!; Bottom left: Dinner with stakeholders from the Puerto Rico Violent Death Reporting System (PR-VDRS); Bottom Right: the GREMAP team during NVDRS conference activities (left to right: Alejandro Rodriguez-Putnam, Lily Johns, Dr. Mezuk, Aparna Ananthasubramaniam, Viktoryia Kalesnikava, Eskira Kahsay, and Linh Dang)

As a part of the Diabetes and Mental Health (DMH) Initiative, Dr. Mezuk and Caitlan DeVries co-authored a piece on the health and mental health implications of high insulin costs in Dr. Mezuk’s Psychology Today Blog “Ask an Epidemiologist”. The blog discusses a history of insulin, current challenges related to cost and accessibility, and affects on health outcomes and disparities. You can read the full piece here.

This past week we were excited to welcome Dr. Norman Sartorius to CSEPH and to the University of Michigan! Dr. Sartorius is currently the President of the International Association for the Improvement of Mental Health Programs, and is the former director of the Division of Mental Health at the World Health Organization. He is also a mentor for our MIWI program, or the Michigan Integrative Well-being and Inequality Training Program, which took place earlier this week.

During his visit, Dr. Sartorius gave a lecture to CSEPH titled “On the Future of Medicine and Psychiatry” that took a deep dive into major social and economic trends affecting the practice of medicine and psychiatry now and in the future. Throughout this presentation, he highlighted the importance of strengthening and supporting community health and caregiving.

Overall, Dr. Sartorius teaches and reminds us of the importance of empathy and humanism in the practice of medicine, psychiatry, and public health. He especially emphasizes the role of teaching and mentorship in both research and clinical education settings as a way to center empathy and respect for the person or patient. It was a pleasure to meet and discuss with Dr. Sartorius and we were happy to welcome him to the University of Michigan!

Dr. Norman Sartorius (center) pictured with folks from GREMAP

It was a busy month of April for GREMAP! Here are some recent updates on achievements of our staff and students:

Dr. Weidi Qin visited Ann Arbor to attend her graduation ceremony to celebrate her work and achievements at the university. This fall, Weidi will be transitioning from her role as a postdoc working with us and the folks at the Institute for Social Research to a faculty position at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work. Congratulations Weidi!

Also, GREMAP Students Bella Flores and Pragya Choudhary presented their work at the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Symposium this April. Bella and Pragya have been a part of the Diabetes and Mental Health Initiative (DMH) team this year and presented their UROP posters on their work on the 3-D Study of Self-Management and Mental Health: Diabetes, Distress, and Disparities. Congratulations to Bella and Pragya for this achievement!

Pragya (left) and Bella (center) pictured with their UROP posters and with Dr. Meuzk (right).

We are excited to announce that GREMAP student Bella Flores is the recipient of this year’s Department of Chemistry Alumni 1st Year Achievement Award! The award is presented to undergraduate students who demonstrate exemplary performance in their chemistry laboratory and lecture work. Congratulations Bella!