Jennifer Balfour, PhD

Dr. Balfour is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health, and a research scientist at the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health. In her research as a Brookdale National Fellow she examined the role of the community environment on the physical and social functioning of older adults in three U.S. cities.

Dr. Balfour completed her doctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley, studying how older adults perceived their neighborhood environment, and the association between perceived problems and change in physical function. She later completed a two year post-doctoral training program at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, specializing in physical and cognitive function and disability among the elderly. Other areas of research interest include vital active life expectancy and cardiovascular health and early onset of disability. Dr. Balfour’s training is in social epidemiology and gerontology.

Brookdale Fellow Class of 2003