Health, Illness, and Optimal Aging: Biological and Psychosocial Perspectives

Dr. Carolyn Aldwin is Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Prior to that, she was Professor of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis. She received her doctorate from the University of California at San Francisco, was a post-doctoral fellow in the Program in Social Ecology at the University of California at Irvine, and spent five years at the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study in Boston. She still collaborates with investigators on this study, and directs the Davis Longitudinal Study. She is currently co-editor for Psychology and Health, and was associate editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Her research on health and aging has been funded by the National Institute of Aging. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, as well as the American Psychological Association in Divisions 20 (Adult Development and Aging) and 38 (Health Psychology). She is an avid cyclist and hiker. Dr. Gilmer is a Lecturer and Post-Graduate Researcher in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis. She received a Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Portland, Portland, Oregon, and a Master of Science in Education and a doctorate in Human Development at the University of California, Davis. She is certified as an adult/family nurse practitioner and has worked extensively with the elderly. Currently she teaches a course on Health and Aging at the University. She enjoys gardening, walking with her two springer spaniels, and sailing on San Francisco Bay with her husband and adult children.