Alexis Merdjanoff
New York University, NY·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Hurricanes, floods, heat waves and wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe. So are slower threats such as sea level rise.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Social Science
- Topics
disaster resilience
older adults
successful aging
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Test a conceptual model in which an older adult's personal disaster resilience mediates the link between exposure to hurricanes, floods, heat waves or wildfires and successful aging.
- Identify the factors that build disaster resilience among older adults living independently in disaster-prone areas, using qualitative data.
- Design and pilot a tablet-based intergenerational intervention that aims to increase disaster resilience among older adults aging in environmentally vulnerable places.
More about the research
Adults over 65 are hit hardest. They are the least prepared, the most at risk during every phase of a disaster, and have the highest disaster-related death rates. Few resilience programs are designed for older people living independently in their communities. This project asks what helps older adults bounce back from disasters, and how that resilience might support healthy aging in risky places.
Why it matters
As more older adults age in areas exposed to hurricanes, floods, wildfires and heat waves, knowing what makes them resilient could guide disaster preparedness and public health programs. A tested tablet-based intergenerational intervention could give older adults living independently resources to stay safe and age in place despite growing environmental risk.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Mark Schuller
Northern Illinois University, IL·Social Science
Test whether disaster resilience models developed in one community can be adapted to others across different scales. Compare outcomes at multiple sites.
Arnab Ghosh
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, NY·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Test whether extreme heat events raise county-level COVID-19 risk nationwide, combining Johns Hopkins case data, census data and National Weather Service records from 2020–2022 in spatiotemporal models with quasi-experimental designs.
Safiyyah Okoye
Drexel University, PA·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Characterize housing disrepair, such as roof, wall, heating or plumbing problems, among U.S. older adults, and test its links to functional disability in low-income older adults.
The school
New York University: 72 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 540 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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