Biography
Yuri Jang is a professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and a senior scientist at the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW). Prior to joining USC in 2018, she was affiliated with the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin (2012−2018) and the Department of Aging and Mental Health Disparities and School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida (2003−2012). Jang received her doctoral degree in Aging Studies at the University of South Florida in 2001 and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of South Florida Institute on Aging and at the University of Georgia Gerontology Center.
Jang’s areas of interest include positive adaptation in aging, health disparities, and minority health and service utilization. She has completed a project “Aging, Acculturation, and Health” funded by the National Institute on Aging (R03AG 26332). Her projects on mental health literacy, particularly on depression and dementia, among minority older adults were funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH081094) and the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute. She has also conducted a project on telecounseling for linguistically isolated older immigrants with funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R03HS020636). She also completed the Asian American Quality of Life (AAQoL) project sponsored by the city of Austin– a city-wide needs assessment in Asian American communities. Her 5-year multi-site project, “Limited English Proficiency, Health, and Healthcare among Older Immigrants,” awarded an R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01AG47106). Her recent projects include cultural adaptation of an evidence-based dementia caregiver intervention for racial/ethnic minority caregivers (R21AG071790) and oral health education for older immigrants with limited English proficiency (R21DE029579). Her research on older immigrants addresses coping with life stressors including functional disability, health decline, financial strains, acculturative stress, family caregiving, and social isolation; social determinants of physical, mental, oral, and cognitive health; and behavioral interventions to promote the health and well-being.
She is an associate editor of Ethnicity and Health, and served as an elected secretary of the Gerontological Society of America (2017−2020). Jang has received numerous honors and awards, including minority fellowships from the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the American Psychological Association (APA), Emerging Professional Award from the APA Division 45, Recognizing Asians Instilling Strength and Excellence (RAISE) Award, and the GSA Minority Issues in Gerontology Outstanding Mentorship Award.
To reference the work of Yuri Jang online, we ask that you directly quote their work where possible and attribute it to "Yuri Jang, faculty at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work” (LINK: https://dworakpeck.usc.edu)
Education
University of South Florida
PhD 2001
University of Arizona
MA 1998
Duksung Women's University, Seoul, Korea
BA 1996