Our Team Meet Our Team! Karen L. Fingerman Director Karen Fingerman is the Wilson Professor of Human Ecology, Director of the Texas Aging & Longevity Consortium and Director of Research for the UT Austin Center on Aging and Population Sciences. She has over 175 publications addressing social and emotional aging including older adults’ intergenerational family ties, social relationships and physical and cognitive functioning. She received the Distinguished Mentor in Gerontology Award from the BSS section of GSA in 2020, the Baltes Distinguished Research Award in Psychology of Aging from the American Psychological Association in 2022, and took second place in the Great Blanton Bakeoff. Zexi Zhou Graduate Student – 5th Year Zexi is interested in intergenerational ties across the lifespan. She is also interested in the social determinants of health aging. Hobbies: going for a walk and building Legos. Sibo Gao Graduate Student – 4th year Sibo is interested in older adults’ emotional and physical health after encountering negative major life events. He is also interested in how social interactions may mitigate the negative effects of these stressors. Hobbies: eating dim sum, Thai food, and Korean BBQ Yeonsoo Shin Graduate Student – 1st year Yeonsoo is interested in older adults’ emotional well-being, resilience, and coping strategies. She is also interested in social engagement and modifiable factors for psychological health. Hobbies: traveling, yoga, and long walks We’re a hoot! Lab Alumni Shiyang Zhang, PhD Former Graduate Student, 2019-2024 Post Doctoral Fellow in Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin Yijung K. Kim, PhD Former Post Doctoral Fellow, 2020-2023 Research Scientist at Health Economics and Aging Research (H.E.A.R) Institute Crystal Ng, PhD Former Graduate Student, 2017-2022 Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan Meng Huo, PhD Former Graduate Student, 2014-2019 Assistant Professor at the UC Davis Eden M. Griffin, PhD Former Graduate Student, 2012-2017 Director at OMNI Institute Kyungmin Kim, PhD Former Post Doctoral Fellow, 2013-2015 Assistant Professor at Seoul National University
