Summary
Dr. Mao is passionate about promoting practice-informed research and research-informed practice. The overarching goal for Dr. Mao’s research is to improve health and quality of life for vulnerable older adults and their families. Her research program started with the understanding of intergenerational support and care and well-being in the heritage culture, and expanded into neighborhoods, communities, and supportive environments and overall health in the receiving culture. Her current research interest focuses on the understudied aspects of informal dementia caregiving in vulnerable communities. Dr. Mao has been gravitating towards interdisciplinary research and leading interdisciplinary teams. Dr. Mao’s work has been featured in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including but not limited to Journal of Dental Research, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and The Gerontologist. Dr. Mao is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.
Areas of interest
- Global aging, immigration, and acculturation
- Social determinants of overall health (including oral health) in later life
- Family caregiving and intergenerational support in heritage- and receiving- cultures
- Special populations of interest: older Asians and older Asian Americans
Courses taught at the University of Nevada, Reno
- SW 310: Structural Oppression
- SW 441: Data Analysis for Social Workers
- SW 630: Social Welfare History and Policy Practice
- SW 650: Social Work and Health
- SW 723: Social Work Administration I
- SW 741: Practice and Program Evaluation
Publications
My NCBI (My Bibliography) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1PgZ1UDPGi91B3/bibliography/public/
Education
- Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, 2016
- PhD in Social Work, University of Southern California, 2015
- MSW, University of Southern California, 2015
- MPhil in Social Welfare, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009
- BL, Nankai University China, 2007