Jennifer Ailshire

Jennifer Ailshire is a Professor of Gerontology and Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California (USC). Her research focuses on aging and the life course, neighborhoods and health, social relationships, health disparities, social demography, quantitative methods, and spatial methods. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan (2009). Her work frequently examines how environmental, social, and spatial factors influence aging populations, including studies on redlining impacts, caregiving, climate change effects, and dementia risk. Notable projects include analyses of the Health and Retirement Study and cross-national comparisons of aging health outcomes.

Her research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to understanding disparities in health and aging across diverse populations. Key themes include the role of neighborhood characteristics, educational quality, and environmental exposures in shaping cognitive and physical aging trajectories. Recent work investigates extreme heat’s effects on epigenetic aging and the mental health consequences of spousal caregiving.

Dr. Ailshire’s publications span environmental health, public health policy, and global aging research. Her findings contribute to policy discussions on urban planning, healthcare accessibility, and climate resilience for older adults. She has collaborated on studies involving international datasets and large-scale longitudinal cohort analyses, highlighting the importance of contextual factors in aging research.