Joan K Monin

Joan K Monin is Professor of Public Health in the Social and Behavioral Sciences department at Yale School of Public Health. Her academic appointments include affiliations with the Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research, Patient Priorities Care, Yale Stress Center, and Yale Ventures. She leads the Social Gerontology and Health Lab which focuses on understanding how emotional processes affect health in older adult relationships, particularly in the context of dementia care.

• PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (2007)
• MS from Carnegie Mellon University (2005)

Professor Monin's research integrates survey methods and laboratory experiments to examine mechanisms (such as emotional contagion and cardiovascular reactivity) and moderators (including gender and individual differences in attachment) in caregiver-recipient relationships. Her current work emphasizes understanding how caregivers and care recipients support one another in early-stage dementia, with particular attention to minimizing the negative health consequences of caregiving. Her lab implements cutting-edge mixed-methods approaches including psychophysiological, behavioral, genetic, and linguistic analyses.

Her publication record reveals consistent focus on dementia care dynamics, emotional regulation in aging relationships, and health disparities among older populations. Recent work explores culturally-tailored interventions for African American dementia dyads, HIV stigma among older women, and dyadic physical activity interventions for rural-dwelling individuals with cognitive impairment. Her research bridges gerontology, psychology, and public health to address critical issues in an aging population.

• Elected to the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (2024)
• American Psychosomatic Society Fellow (2023)
• Society for Experimental Social Psychology Fellow (2020)
• American Psychological Association's Florence L. Denmark Award (2020)
• Gerontological Society of America Fellow (2017)

Professor Monin collaborates extensively with colleagues across disciplines, particularly with Dr. Thi Vu (14 publications), Dr. Terri Fried (12 publications), and Dr. Becca Levy (8 publications). Her work includes clinical trials such as an intervention to reduce readmission rates in young women with acute myocardial infarction where she served as Sub Investigator. She has been featured in media discussing dementia as a public health issue, equitable marriages, and the LiveWell program that connects students with people living with dementia.

The Social Gerontology and Health Lab implements innovative approaches to minimize the negative health effects of caregiving, addressing the mental and physical health needs of older adult caregivers and their care-recipients. With the 65+ age group expected to double to 70 million by 2030, her research addresses increasingly critical public health challenges in our aging society.