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Colorado State University

Faculty Affiliates

Select from the departments listed below to view the names, departmental affiliations, and specific areas of expertise of the Center on Aging faculty affiliates. Feel free to contact faculty affiliates if you have specific questions related to their research program.

Design and Merchandising

Economics

Education

Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences

Finance & Real Estate

Food Science and Human Nutrition

Health and Exercise Science

Human Development and Family Studies

Music

Occupational Therapy

Philosophy

Psychology

Social Work

2009-2010 Senior Scholars

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Health & Exercise Science

Food Science & Human Nutrition

Human Development & Family Studies

Occupational Therapy

Psychology

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Katherine Leigh Katherine.Leigh@ColoState.EDU View Website	Housing for older adults; design of health care facilities for older adults, including assisted living facilities for individuals with dementia.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Jennifer Ogle Jennifer.Ogle@ColoState.EDU View Website	Body satisfaction, body image, and the media. Family influences on self and appearance.	Social relationships in later life.
Dr. Juyeon Park Juyeon.Park@ColoState.EDU View Website	customized product design and development for targeted consumer groups, including older adults; accurate body measurement for special needs populations; and 3D prototyping technology for apparel and footwear production.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Alexandra Bernasek Alexandra.Bernasek@ColoState.EDU View Website	Gender and the economic well-being of individuals and society; women and retirement, specifically, the influence of age on women’s financial decisions and the effect of financial status on the decision to retire.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Nancy Jianakoplos Nancy.Jianokoplos@ColoState.EDU View Website	Determinants of household financial risk taking and determinants of household savings and pension coverage.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Don Venneberg Donald.Venneberg@ColoState.EDU View Website	Organizational performance and management of change in a multi-generational workforce. Implications of the aging workforce on recruitment and retention of older workers.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Susan Bailey Susan.Bailey@ColoState.EDU View Website	Investigating relationships between dysfunctional telomeres in repair deficient backgrounds and the roles they play in aging and tumorigenesis. Exploring telomere dynamics and premature aging. Potential of telomerase inhibition in the treatment of cancer.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Ron Tjalkens Ron.Tjalkens@ColoState.EDU View Website	The role of astrocytes in modulating neuronal function, both in normal physiology and in neurodegenerative disorders, use of a variety of real time imaging and molecular techniques to probe the mechanisms underlying disturbance of normal astrocyte-neuron interactions relevant to diseases such as Parkinson’s.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Vickie Bajtelsmit Bajtelsmit@ColoState.EDU View Website	Personal finance issues related to retirement, with particular interest in the impact that gender differences in investing have on retirement income security of women.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Mary Harris Mary.Harris@ColoState.EDU View Website	The role of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA) in human nutrition. Modulation of malnutrition inflammation syndrome in chronic kidney disease; anti-inflammatory properties of DHA in arthritis.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Christopher Bell Christopher.Bell@ColoState.EDU View Website	Regulation of energy expenditure by the sympathetic nervous system and how this is influenced by aging, habitual exercise, molecular and genetic properties of beta-adrenergic receptors, and oxidative stress.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Ray Browning Ray.Browning@ColoState.EDU View Website	Development of effective physical activity interventions, monitoring tools and equipment for the prevention and treatment of childhood and adult obesity; identifing activities that meet energy expenditure goals while reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injury; encouraging physical activity via appropriate equipment; measuring physical activity compliance via objective monitoring.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Frank Dinenno Frank.Dinenno@ColoState.EDU View Website	Control of vascular tone during various stressors (e.g., exercise, hypoxia) in humans. Understanding (a) how the sympathetic nervous system and “local” factors interact to control vascular tone and muscle blood flow; (b) how these interactions are altered with aging; and (c) how regular physical activity impacts on these control mechanisms. The effects of aging and lifestyle factors (e.g., regular physical activity) on overall cardiovascular structure and function and how these effects relate to human health and disease.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Karyn Hamilton Karyn.Hamilton@ColoState.EDU View Website	Mechanism(s) of exercise- and estrogen-induced protection of the heart and vascular endothelium against hypoxia-reoxygenation injury.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Simon Lees Simon.Lees@ColoState.EDU View Website	Role of adult skeletal muscle stem cells in muscle growth and repair within the context of aging, exercise, and disease.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Ben Miller Benjamin.F.Miller@ColoState.EDU View Website	The use of exercise and nutrition for the maintenance of muscle function (i.e., muscle quantity and muscle quality). Examination of causes of age-related muscle deterioration and how to slow those processes down.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Tracy Nelson Tracy.Nelson@ColoState.EDU View Website	Influence of gene, environment, and gene-environment interactions on development of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Influence of dietary fat type on emerging cardiovascular risk factors (e.g. inflammatory and endothelial factors). Impact of neuroendocrine and metabolic factors on chronic disease. Ethnic differences in disease risk.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Raoul Reiser Raoul.Reiser@ColoState.EDU View Website	Injury prevention and improved rehabilitation through investigation into the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system. In particular, lower-extremity musculoskeletal biomechanics and the design of novel research equipment; reducing the risk for falls in the elderly through investigation of balance control; how one side of the body is used slightly different from the other with the theory that bilateral asymmetries may lead to low-back pain and injury.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Brian Tracy Brian.Tracy@ColoState.EDU View Website	Aging of the neuromuscular system. Control of hand, arm, and lower limb muscle contractions in older adults. Neural mechanisms underlying reduced control of muscle contractions in older adults. Effects of exercise training and physical activity on the preservation of neuromuscular function in aging.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Manfred Diehl Manfred.Diehl@ColoState.EDU View Website	Personality development across the adult lifespan. Experience and regulation of emotion in adulthood. Coping with stress in adulthood and old age. Older adults' everyday problem solving. Developmental research methods.	Optimizing healthy aging.
Dr. Robert Fetsch Robert.Fetsch@ColoState.EDU View Website	Stress, coping, risk, and resiliency in farm/ranch families. Suicide prevention. Strengthening families and marriages. Educational program evaluation.	Social relationships in later life. Mental health in later life.
Dr. Christine Fruhauf Christine.Fruhauf@ColoState.EDU View Website	Grandparent-grandchild relationships; family caregiving for older adults; quality of nursing home care; life satisfaction in later life.	Social relationships in later life. Mental health in later life.
Dr. Thao Le Thao.Le@ColoState.EDU View Website	Cultural values and life experiences and their influence on wisdom in different cultures.	Optimizing healthy aging.

Faculty/Email/Website	Areas of Research	Research Core
Dr. Michael Thaut Michael.Thaut@ColoState.EDU View Website	Brain function in music, especially time information processing in the brain related to rhythmicity. Biomedical applications of music to neurologic rehabilitation of cognitive and motor function.	Optimizing healthy aging.