Academics

Faculty & Staff

Elizabeth Dugan, PhD

  • Associate Professor of Gerontology
    McCormack Graduate School
  • Telephone: 617.287.7382
  • Office Location: Wheatley Hall, 3rd Floor, Room 96

Areas of Expertise

Older drivers and senior transportation , health and aging, health politics and policy, aging and long-term care, action research (undergraduate course), physical and health aspects of aging (undergraduate course)

Degrees

PhD, University of North Carolina Greensboro
MA, University of South Florida
BA, University of Central Florida

Additional Information

Prior to joining UMass Boston, Professor Dugan taught at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine (public health sciences), the University of Massachusetts Medical School (geriatric medicine), and was a senior research scientist at the New England Research Institutes.  Graduate courses taught include: Psychology of Aging, Health and Physical Aspects of Aging, Ethnic and Racial Diversity in Aging Societies, and Scientific Writing. Undergraduate courses include: Action Research, Legislative Processes, Health and Physical Aspects of aging.  She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Professor Dugan welcomes the opportunity to mentor highly motivated students.

Her research focuses on state policies related to older driver safety, identifying risk factors for driving transitions, and issues related to the medical fitness to drive. Her research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Eye Institute, The Borchard Foundation Center for Law and Aging, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Retirement Research Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Her scholarship, including her book, The Driving Dilemma: The Complete Resource Guide for Older Drivers and Their Families, generates regular media coverage on ABC's Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, and other media outlets.

Professor Dugan is a frequent speaker at community events, senior centers, and staff training opportunities related to older drivers.  In addition, she has provided testimony and written briefs for state legislators across the nation.