 | Douglas Hanes, Ph.D. Title: PRODiG+ Fellow Office: HSC 3-058G Email: Douglas.Hanes@stonybrookmedicine.edu Phone: (631) 216-9461 Connect with Dr. Hanes on Google Scholar and ORCID View Dr. Hanes personal website |
Brief Biography:
Dr. Hanes (pronouns: he/they) is a social epidemiologist and political scientist whose expertise lies at the intersection of cognitive epidemiology and health disparities and equity, with particular focus on the relationship between social institutions and the later-life health of minoritized and stigmatized populations. Their empirical work uses existing survey data and employs novel methods to identify under-researched minoritized populations and better understand the health and well-being challenges these groups face during aging. Their theoretical work questions the conceptual and normative frameworks that underlie current public-health and gerontological research and practice. This work seeks to identify how these frameworks continue to exclude, stigmatize, and marginalize many groups; and to propose alternative frameworks that will realize more equitable public health for all.
Education:
PhD, Political Science, McGill University (2016)
MA, International Relations, University of Chicago (2007)
BS, Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution; BA, Evolutionary Biology, University of California, San Diego (2004)
Academic Interests:
Social epidemiology; health disparities and health equity; Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias; critical gerontology; public health policy; political-economy of health; population health; philosophy of public health; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) health; women’s health; gender-based violence; elder abuse; intersectionality; housing and homelessness; incarceration.
Honors, Awards, and Affiliations:
Health Policy Fellow, Scholars Strategy Network, 2024–25 Cohort
Research Associate, Centre for Gender and Sexual Minority Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Professional Memberships
Gerontological Association of America
Canadian Association for Gerontology
American Political Science Association
Canadian Translational Geroscience Network
Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART) Diversity and Disparities Professional Interest Area (PIA)
Research Interests:
Dr. Hanes researches the role that social institutions play in the later-life health of marginalized people, especially their cognitive health during aging. He is particularly focused on the health of LGBTQ+ people, women, and those with stigmatized life-histories: disabled people, people who have experienced homelessness and incarceration, and people living with dementia. His published research has examined how institutions like family, education, healthcare, and employment, which have historically been resources for better cognitive and overall health, can instead be sources of risk for minoritized populations. Specifically, he has published on dementia risk and outcomes among LGBTQ+, formerly homeless, and formerly incarcerated people. He is currently developing projects looking at discrimination against people living with dementia and older single parents.
Select Grants:
PRODiG+ Fellowship, SUNY Stony Brook, 2025–2027
Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship to Promote Diversity, 2024–2026
Select Publications:
DW Hanes and SAP Clouston. 2025. “The intersecting effects of lifetime experiences of homelessness and incarceration on cognitive aging and dementia risk factors in the United States.” The Gerontologist.
DW Hanes and SAP Clouston. 2024. “Cognitive decline after divorce and widowhood: Is ‘marital loss’ always a loss?” Innovation in Aging 8(5).
SAP Clouston, DW Hanes, DM Smith, LL Richmond, M Richards, and B Link. 2024. “Inequalities in accelerated cognitive decline: Resolving Observational Window Bias using nested nonlinear regression.” Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
SAP Clouston, DW Hanes, and B Link. 2023. “Social inequalities and the early provision and dispersal of COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States: A population trends study.” Vaccine.
DW Hanes, and SAP Clouston. 2022. “Cognitive aging in same- and different-sex relationships: Comparing age of diagnosis and rate of cognitive decline in the Health and Retirement Study”. Gerontology.
DW Hanes, and SAP Clouston. 2021. “Ask again: Including gender identity in longitudinal studies of aging”. Gerontologist 61 (5), 640-649
