About Us

The Center on the Demography and Economics of Aging at the University of Chicago was established as an Exploratory Center in 1994 with a P-20 grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The Center began as one of the relatively modest-sized P-20 centers but has grown in the years since its inception to be a sizeable site for aging research. The success of the Center has come from the quality of the University of Chicago faculty and from its research environment, combined with support from the university and NORC. Linda Waite and Diane Lauderdale direct the Center.

The specific aims of the Center over the past four years have been: (1) to foster an exciting, dynamic intellectual environment for research in the demography and economics of aging; (2) to provide research support services; (3) to encourage the development of new research projects and research foci in the demography and economics of aging; and (4) to facilitate collaborative research and teaching ties between scientists working in the field of aging in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Center works to build a rich intellectual environment for the study of aging at the University of Chicago, both through informal mechanisms and formal programs. Informally, the Center co-directors work to keep the network connected and vibrant. Formally, we support the Demography Workshop by bringing in visiting speakers on aging topics and providing a forum for our Research Associates to present their work to the research community. We also support conferences on key topics, integrate training and research activities, and directly support faculty efforts to obtain funding for their research and to carry it out once it is funded. The Center has joined with the university and NORC to recruit talented young researchers to Chicago and has fostered their work on aging once they arrived, and has encouraged established researchers to enter the field of aging by funding early research efforts as pilot projects.

During the past five years, research on aging has grown at Chicago. This growth occurred in part because we have added a large number of new faculty members with active research programs in the demography and economics of aging. John Cacioppo joined the faculty of the Division of Social Sciences as Professor of Psychology. Kathleen Cagney, former NIA-funded postdoctoral fellow, became Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Studies in the Pritzker School of Medicine. Elbert Huang joined the faculty of the Pritzker School of Medicine as Assistant Professor, in the General Medical Research Outcomes Group. Stacy Tessler Lindau, a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, became Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, in the Pritzker School of Medicine. Christopher M. Masi joined the faculty of the Pritzker School of Medicine as Assistant Professor, in the General Medical Research Outcomes Group. Colm O'Muircheartaigh became Professor, Harris School of Public Policy Studies. All do substantial work on aging.

At the same time, a number of long-time Chicago faculty members developed interests in aging, often encouraged by the Center. Edward O. Laumann is co-PI of a newly-funded project, The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). Martha McClintock is PI of one of the three projects in Cacioppo’s NIA-funded Program Project, Loneliness, Stress, Health, and the Aging Process. Ronald A. Thisted, Chair of the Department of Health Studies, directs the Statistical Core of the Cacioppo P01. Eve Van Cauter, PI of the NIA-funded Program Project Alterations of Sleep and Circadian Timing in Aging, expanded her research area to encompass economic and social determinants of sleep. Donald J. Bogue began a new project on the well-being of the unmarried elderly with Center on Aging funding. This project competed successfully for supplemental funds from NIA.

This growth comes on top of an already strong faculty presence in the demography and economics of aging. In fact, the Chicago faculty--with its breadth, depth, and quality--is the greatest strength of the Center on Aging. The truly interdisciplinary character of the university is another important asset. As an example, the list of presenters at the Demography Workshop spans many departments and schools, from sociology, economics, the Graduate School of Business, the Harris School of Public Policy, the Pritzker School of Medicine, and NORC. The addition of John Cacioppo, Martha McClintock, and Eve Van Cauter to the roster of Research Associates brings three distinguished senior researchers in biology and psychology to enhance the strength of the Center in the study of biobehavioral pathways in aging. All three are currently engaged in NIA-funded collaborative work with demographers in aging.

The result of our growth is a highly diverse faculty, with major strength in sociology, economics/business, the medical school, the School of Social Service Administration, and the Harris School of Public Policy, which include people whose specialties cross many of the above departments. Particularly in the areas of health care studies, biopsychology, and socioeconomic determinants of health, the research portfolios of most faculty members draw upon expertise in medicine, epidemiology, and the biological and social sciences. Many of these faculty members have formal training in multiple disciplines. We also have a particularly strong group of researchers in the economics of aging.

This diverse membership is linked together in several ways. Many of the associates have office or research space in the 1155 building where the Center is housed. Five of the seven Research Affiliates have offices in the same building. Many associates participate in the weekly Demography Workshop. Over the past five years, members have regularly presented papers in the Workshop.

By any metric, our Research Associates are extremely productive, whether measured by the number of publications over the last five years or by funded research.

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