My research centers on the assessment of health outcomes in aging and chronic disease, including physical and cognitive function, health service use, and clinical decision making. Current efforts include modeling the dynamics of health behavior change across the lifespan and prevention of violence. In 2022-, my research group conducted a study of social needs screening in primary care and developed the Public Health Records Lab (PHRL), in which we link the hospital EHR to statewide human service data systems. We also use the EHR to assess precursors of firearm violence. In other research we continue to build on our CDC Prevention Research Center efforts to assess weight loss, physical function, and caregiver stress in old age. In 2022, I spent a semester in Japan developing comparative research on community prevention of disability in old age. I teach courses on aging as a field of public health, modeling the dynamics of health behavior change, and evaluation of health program interventions.
Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, B.A., 1978
Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago, M.A., 1981
Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, Ph.D., 1987
Thesis: Ritual and Political Process among the Lak, Southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Columbia University, M.Sc., 1996
Thesis: Neuropsychological Impairment in Asymptomatic HIV Infection: A Risk Factor for Work Disability
Fellow: Gerontological Society of America, American Anthropological Association, and American Academy of Neurology
Editor-in-Chief, Innovation in Aging
BCHS 2715, Dimensions of Aging
BCHS 2534, Clinical Aspects of Dementia Care
BCHS 3003, Seminar in Advanced Evaluation
BCHS 2990, Social Dynamics
Selected publications, 2020-
Culyba AJ, Miller E,Albert SM, Abebe KZ. Co-occurrence of Violence-Related Risk and Protective Behaviors and Adult Support Among Male Youth in Urban Neighborhoods. JAMA Netw Open 2019; 2(9): e1911375.
Shuman V, Coyle PC, Perera S, VanSwearingen JM,Albert SM, Brach JS. Association between improved mobility and distal health outcomes.J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2020, Apr 9:glaa086.
Stahl ST, Smagula SF, Rodakowski J, Dew MA,Albert SM, Karp JF, Butters M, Gildengers A, Reynolds CF. Subjective sleep quality and trajectories of interleukin-6 in older adults.Am J Geriatr Psychiatry; 2020; Jun 25:S1064-7481(20)30388-2.
Ie K, Hirose M, Sakai T, Motohashi I, Aihara M, Otsuki T, Tsuboya A, Matsumoto H, Hashi H, Inoue E, Takahashi M, Komiya E, Itoh Y, Tsuchida T, Kurosu E,Albert SM, Okuse C, Matsuda T. Protocol of a randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of medication optimization in elderly inpatients: medication optimization protocol efficacy for geriatric inpatients (MPEG) trial.BMJ Open 2020 Oct 12;10(10):e041125.
Ie K, Chou E, Boyce RD,Albert SM. Fall Risk-Increasing Drugs, Polypharmacy, and Falls among Low-Income Community-Dwelling Older Adults Innovation in Aging, 2021 Jan 8;5(1):igab001. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igab001.
de Silva MWA,Albert SM. Kidney Disease, Health, and Commodification of Drinking Water: An Anthropological Inquiry into the Introduction of Reverse Osmosis Water in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Human Organization 2021; 80(2): 140-151.
Albert SM, Venditti E, Boudreau R, Kieffer L, Rager J, Zgibor J, Vander Bilt Joni, Danielson M, Burke L, Glynn N, Jakicic J, Smith K, Semler L, Newman A. Weight Loss through Lifestyle Intervention Improves Mobility in Older Adults. The Gerontologist 2021, Apr 5:gnab048. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnab048.
Long K,Albert SM. Use of Zip Code Based Aggregate Indicators to Assess Race Disparities in COVID-19.Ethnicity & Disease 2021; 31(3), in press.
Kulasooriya PN, Jayasekara KB, Nisansala T, Kannangara S, Karunarathna R, Karunarathne C, Wikramarathne M, Albert SM. Utility of Self-Reported Heat Stress Symptoms and NGAL Biomarker to Screen for Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin (CKDu) in Sri Lanka. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021; 18, 10498. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910498.
Boyce RD, Kravchenko OV, Perera S, Karp JF, Kane-Gill SL, Reynolds CF, Albert SM, Handler S.  Falls Prediction Using the Nursing Home Minimum Dataset. J Am Med Informatics Assoc 2022, in press.
