Current Projects & Recent Presentations

The Healthy Aging Lab will play a leading role in the APPALACHIAN GERONTOLOGY EXPERIENCES: ADVANCING DIVERSITY IN AGING RESEARCH (AGE-ADAR) grant from the National Institutes on Aging. Learn more about this $1.8 million project at the link above.

LAB PROJECTS to which we all contribute include our studies on the cognitive, physical and emotional effects of awe. We have conducted several pilot studies to determine what kind of stimuli adults find awe-inspiring and whether an awe-induction reduces the errors or facilitates speed in a demanding executive functions cognitive task. 

Along with colleague Kathleen Morrison, PhD, we are seeking pilot funds from WVCTSI to examine the effects of awe-inductions on epigenetic aging (via telomere attrition), psychological wellbeing, physical health (via heart rate variability), and cognitive performance among caregivers and persons with dementia.

Using funds from our WVU Community Engagement grant, we developed and tested Appalachia-themed activities for use by persons with dementia (pwd) in the community and in long-term care settings. 

We recently completed a study with 700+ WVU scholars related to Sexual Harassment and Research Experiences (SHARE). We are using those data to develop a Best Practices module for reducing sexual harassment in the research lab. 

Learn about our AWE-some program of research here: