Our Team
Core Faculty
Toni Antonucci, Ph.D.
Collegiate Professor of Psychology, Research Professor and Director of LCD
Dr. Toni C. Antonucci is the Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor of Psychology, Program Director and Research Professor in the Life Course Development Program at the Institute for Social Research, all at the University of Michigan, USA. Her research focuses on social relations and health (physical/psychological/cognitive functioning) across the life span. Professor Antonucci studies all types of social relations including close social relations, peer and family relations, caregiving, and social media. She is interested in family multigenerational relations, child and adult development. Further, Professor Antonucci has conducted comparative studies on social relations and health in the United States, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and Japan.
Dr. Jess Francis-Levin, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Jess Francis-Levin’s Website
Dr. Jess Francis-Levin’s Email
Dr. Jess Francis-Levin is a Research Assistant Professor in the Research Center for Group Dynamics and the Life Course Development program. Her work examines how emerging technology use, such as virtual reality, may impact the overall health and well-being of the older adult community. With an emphasis on social connectivity, Dr. Francis-Levin develops technological interventions designed to promote independence and mitigate the negative consequences of social isolation. A primary consideration for her research is how the digital divide may impact individuals from realizing the true benefits of emerging technologies, and how to bridge that gap.
Noah J. Webster, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor
Dr. Noah J. Webster received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University with specializations in Medical Sociology and Research Methods. Dr. Webster’s research focuses on the bidirectional influences of health and social relationships and the role of the lived environment in shaping social relations. His work has examined these topics across developmental contexts using representative survey data from the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. He is principal investigator of multiple sponsored research projects focused on translating knowledge from these research areas to develop interventions designed to promote health-related behaviors through social resources in communities with fewer economic resources.
Kristine J. Ajrouch, Ph.D.
Research Professor
Dr. Kristine J. Ajrouch received her PhD in Sociology from Wayne State University in 1997. She joined LCD in 1998 as a post-doctoral fellow and has retained her affiliation since that time. She is Research Professor in the Research Center of Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research and has a joint appointment in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity, University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her research has focused, for over thirty years, on Middle Eastern and Arab Americans beginning with ethnic identity formation among adolescent children of immigrants followed by the study of social relations, aging and health. Her current work addresses social and cultural aspects of Alzheimer’s disease. She has been the recipient of a Fulbright award where she taught and conducted research in Lebanon.
Faculty Associates
Anne Petersen, Ph.D.
Adjunct Research Professor, Faculty Affiliate
Dr. Anne Petersen is Research Professor (Adjunct), University of Michigan, in two units. She is Founder/President of Global Philanthropy Alliance, a foundation making grants in Africa. Petersen authored 15 books and over 350 articles, currently emphasizing global science policy and philanthropy, with continuing emphases on adolescence/youth development and evaluation/research methods. She co-founded Society of Research on Adolescence and was President of several scientific societies. She chairs NASEM Policy & Global Affairs Divisional Committee and the NASEM EnCoRe Committee, and is key faculty for two fellowship programs in Africa, among other US/global voluntary boards/committees. She is a member of the Templeton World Charity Foundation Board of Directors.
Laura B. Zahodne, Ph.D.
Faculty Associate
Dr. Zahodne is a clinical neuropsychologist who received her PhD from the University of Florida and completed her neuropsychology internship at Brown University. Before joining the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan and affiliating with the Life Course Development program in 2016, she completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Zahodne’s interests include: psychosocial factors in cognitive aging and neurodegenerative disease and racial/ethnic inequalities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs). She co-directs the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD) and is PI of the Michigan Cognitive aging Project.
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, Ph.D.
Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Dr. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz’s website
Dr. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz’s Email
Dr. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz’s CV
Dr. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz received her PhD in Psychology in 1987 from the University of Toronto and became a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan in 1992. She joined the LCD in 2012. She studies neurocognitive aging of memory and executive functions using behavioral and brain imaging methods, along with interventions that may ameliorate cognitive decline.
Elaine Wethington, Ph.D.
Adjunct Research Professor
Dr. Elaine Wethington is Professor Emeritus of Human Development at Cornell University. She is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan PhD program in Sociology. Since 2003 she has been Co-Director and Director of the Behavioral Intervention Development Core for the Cornell Edward R. Roybal Center for Translation of the Behavioral and Social Sciences of Aging (funded by NIA). Her current research focuses on developing behavioral intervention trials to help older adults manage pain, basic research on barriers and facilitators for improving access to treatment for HCV in the US (funded by NIDDK), and the role of school-based health centers in maintaining child and family health in rural communities (funded by NIMHD).
LCD Staff
Simon Brauer, Ph.D.
Research Area Specialist
Dr. Simon Brauer is a quantitative sociologist with research interests in religion across the life course and within families. He received his PhD in Sociology from Duke University in 2019. He is currently a research area specialist working on the dissemination and analysis of complex social network survey data. He is interested in Bayesian probability modeling and using machine learning to enrich existing datasets.
Kaila Luell
Research Associate
Kaila Luell is the first year of the post-baccalaureate Junior Professional Researcher program at ISR working with Dr. Kristine Ajrouch. Kaila is a recent graduate of Colorado College with a B.A. in Neuroscience. She is broadly interested in health disparities and the intersection of social and biological processes.
Nour Fakhoury
Project Senior Manager
Nour Fakhoury is a Project Senior Manager for the Detroit Area Wellness Network studies within the Life Course Development (LCD) at the University of Michigan. She earned her Master’s degree in Sociology from Eastern Michigan University in 2012 and is currently a pursuing a second Master’s degree in Survey and Data Science at the University of Michigan. Nour’s research interests focus on health and well-being across the life course, with particular attention to minority, immigrant, and historically underrepresented populations. She has experience engaging and recruiting hard-to-reach communities, including culturally and linguistically diverse populations, and is committed to developing inclusive, community- informed research strategies that improve participation and representation. Her methodological interests include survey design, measurement error, and interviewer effects. Through her work, Nour aims to strengthen the quality and equity of health-related research by integrating rigorous survey methods with culturally responsive practices.
Madelyn McLain
Research Associate
Madelyn McLain is in the post-baccalaureate program Junior Professional Researcher program at ISR working with Dr. Noah Webster. She joined LCD in 2024 after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with her bachelor’s degree in sociology, religious studies, and data science. Madelyn’s primary research interests include the interplay of social networks, belonging, and well-being, particularly across rural-urban geographies.
Ph.D Students
Myriam Al Bcherraoui
Ph.D Student
Myriam is a first-year PhD student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Lebanese American University in May 2022. Myriam is interested in examining how parent-child relationships support children’s social and emotional development and prevent negative behavioral outcomes. She is also interested in exploring how early family relationships serve as a source of emotional security that promote children’s healthy development across the lifespan, and contribute to later behavioral and health outcomes.
Jay Kayser
Ph.D Student
Jay is a doctoral candidate in the Joint Program in Social Work and Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Social Work from the University of Iowa and a Master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to doctoral training, he worked for five years in acute care settings as a licensed clinical social worker. His research focuses on aging, mental health, and psychosocial stressors in later life, with particular attention to chronic health conditions, social isolation and loneliness, and experiences of elder abuse.
Alumni
Joonyoung Cho
Ph.D Student
Dr. Joonyoung Cho received his MSW and MPH from Washington University in St. Louis, and he is a Ph.D. student in the Joint Program in Social Work and Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. His research interest includes aging-in-place, relocation, life course, social relation, productive aging, and internet communication and technologies.
Emily Briggs
Ph.D. Student
Emily Briggs is a PhD student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. She joined LCD in the Fall of 2022 after completing her Bachelor’s degree with Honors from Towson University in May of 2021. Emily’s research centers around how social interaction and activity participation influence feelings of well-being in older adults.
