CURRICULUM VITAE

https://www.zhenmei.org/CV_Zhang.pdf

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BIOGRAPHY

Zhenmei Zhang received her PhD degree in Sociology and Demography from the Pennsylvania State University. She joined the faculty at Michigan State University in 2006. Dr. Zhang’s areas of expertise include aging and the life course, family and health, racial/ethnic disparities in health, and elder abuse and neglect. Specifically, her research has focused on the effects of social relationships on both physical and cognitive health in later life. Another line of her research has examined racial/ethnic differentials in a variety of health outcomes, including cognitive impairment, chronic health problems, and active life expectancy. Most recent projects have focused on life-course determinants of cognitive impairment and dementia in the United States and China. She used life-course theories and models to identify psychosocial and economic mechanisms underlying disparities in late-life cognitive health. Dr. Zhang’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Medicaid/Medicare. Her work has appeared inJournal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Marriage and Family, Social Science and Medicine, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Journal of Aging and Health,Research on Aging, and The Gerontologist etc.

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CURRENT RESEARCH

My current research projects focus on how social relationships over the life course produce health inequalities in later life in the United States and China. I am interested in the following questions:

1. How does marital biography (e.g., marital status, transition, timing, and quality) affect physical, mental, and cognitive health over the life course?
2. How do childhood advantages and adverse experiences shape health outcomes in mid-and later life?
3. How does friendship influence health outcomes over the life course?

 

 

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ASSOCIATED PROGRAMS

• Asian Studies Center
• Center for Gender in Global Context
• Center for Advanced Study of International Development

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PUBLICATIONS

Choi, Seung-won, Zhenmei Zhang and Hui Liu. 2024. “Gender Differences in the Protective Role of Grandparenting in Dementia Risk.” The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 79(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbae034

Zhang, Zhenmei, Ning Hsieh and Wen-hua Lai. 2023. “Social Relationships in Later Life: Does Marital Status Matter?” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 40(9), 2946-2968. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075231163112

Zhang, Zhenmei, Hui Liu and Yan Zhang. 2022. "Marital Loss and Cognitive Function: Does Timing Matter?" The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. https://doi:10.1093/geronb/gbac069

Zhang, Zhenmei., Hui Liu, & Seung-won Choi. 2021. "Marital Loss and Risk of Dementia: Do Race and Gender Matter?" Social Science & Medicine, 275, 113808. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021

Zhang, Zhenmei, Xu, Hongwei, Lydia W. Li, Jinyu Liu, and Seung-won Choi. 2020. “Social Relationships in Early-Life and Episodic Memory in Mid- and Late Life.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa179. 

Zhenmei Zhang, Hui Liu, and Seung-won Choi. 2020. “Early-life Characteristics, Midlife Socioeconomic Status, and Late-life cognition: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.” Social Science & Medicine Volume, 244, 112575. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112575.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Lydia Li, Hongwei Xu, and Jinyu Liu. 2019. "Does Widowhood Affect Cognitive Function Among Chinese Older Adults?" Social Science & Medicine – Population Health, 7, 100329. doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.100329.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Jinyu Liu, Lydia Li, and Hongwei Xu. 2018. “The Long Arm of Childhood in China: Early-Life Conditions and Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults.” Journal of Aging and Health 30(8): 1319-1344.

Zhang, Zhenmei and I-Fen Lin. 2017. “Intergenerational Support Among Widowed Older Adults in China.” International Journal of Population Studies 3(1): 94–109.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Mark D. Hayward, and Yan-Liang Yu. 2016. “Life Course Pathways to Racial Disparities in Cognitive Impairment among Older Americans.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 57(2): 184-199.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Hui Liu and Yan-Liang Yu. 2016. “Marital Biography and Health in Middle and Late Life.” Pp. 199-218 in Couple Relationships in the Middle and Later Years: Their Nature, Complexity, and Role in Health and Illness, edited by Jamila Bookwala. Washington, DC. American Psychological Association.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Danan Gu, and Ye Luo. 2014. “Coresidence with Elderly Parents in Contemporary China: Filial Piety, Parental Investment, and Parental Needs.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 29(3): 259-276.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Mark D. Hayward, and Chuntian Lu. 2012. “Is there a Hispanic Epidemiologic Paradox in Later Life? A Closer Look at Chronic Morbidity.” Research on Aging 34 (5):548-571.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Danan Gu, and Mark D. Hayward. 2010. “Childhood Nutritional Deprivation and Cognitive Impairment among Older Chinese.” Social Science and Medicine 71:941-949.

Zhang, Zhenmei, Danan Gu, and Mark D. Hayward. 2008. “Early-Life Influences on Cognitive Impairment among Chinese Oldest-Old.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.63: S25-S33.

Zhang, Zhenmei and Mark D. Hayward. 2006. “Gender, the Marital Life Course, and Cardiovascular Health in Late Midlife.” Journal of Marriage and Family 68: 639-657.

Zhang, Zhenmei. 2006. “Gender Differentials in Cognitive Impairment and Decline of the Oldest Old in China.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.61B: S107-S115.

Zhang, Zhenmei. 2006. “Marital History and the Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Midlife.” The Gerontologist 46: 266-270.

Zhang, Zhenmei and Mark D. Hayward. 2001. “Childlessness and the Psychological Well-Being of Older Persons.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 56(5): S311-320.

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LINKS

Google Scholar

Personal website:

 https://www.zhenmei.org/

 

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