Sarah Andrea Burgard

Sarah Andrea Burgard is a Research Professor and Center Director at the University of Michigan, with affiliations in the Department of Sociology (College of Literature, Science, and the Arts), Population Studies Center, and Survey Research Center (Institute for Social Research). She also holds joint appointments in Epidemiology (School of Public Health) and Public Policy (Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy).

Her research focuses on the social stratification of aging and health, analyzing how socioeconomic status, gender, and race/ethnicity contribute to health disparities over the life course. She specializes in population-based survey data and studies the impact of economic recessions on career trajectories, financial shocks, housing instability, and cumulative disadvantage.

• Key trends in her recent publications include:
• Analysis of socioeconomic inequality and suicide mortality
• Exploration of long-term care expectations and mental health
• Investigations into cultural barriers in healthcare trust
• Examinations of pandemic-era mental health and recession impacts

Her work leverages longitudinal studies like the Americans’ Changing Lives Study and the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study, emphasizing life history data and health behavior stability.

Research Grants include leadership roles in the 2020 ACLLIFE wave and the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study, focusing on economic disruptions' health consequences.

Labs & Teams: She collaborates with the Population Studies Center and Survey Research Center, utilizing interdisciplinary approaches to health disparities and life course analysis.