Ann Nguyen, PhD
2016-2017 RCMAR Fellow, USC Schaeffer CenterAssistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Ann Nguyen, PhD's Bio
Ann Nguyen is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work is focused on minority aging and the life course. Her research is motivated by racial disparities in the burden of mental illness, especially for depression. Despite being less prevalent among African Americans, depression is more severe, chronic, persistent, and disabling for African Americans than for Whites. These disparities constitute an excess burden of depression for African Americans.
One of the goals of her research is to explain why older African Americans bear an excess burden of depression relative to older non-Hispanic Whites and identify factors that will address this disparity. Specifically, her research aims to identify psychosocial factors, such as social support, negative social interactions, and discrimination, that represent risk and protective factors for mental illness among older African Americans. These factors will inform interventions that can reduce and eliminate this excess burden for this population.