Faculty
Valentine M. Villa, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Dr. Villa is a Professor of Social Work and Director of the Applied Gerontology Institute at California State University, Los Angeles. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the UCLA School of Public Health and a Senior Research Scientist with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Dr. Villa was the first person in the nation to receive a Ph.D. in Gerontology in 1993. One focus of Dr. Villa's research is assessing the effects of public policies on the health and economic status of the elderly population. Her work in this area has examined the effects of aging policy developments, i.e., Medicare Reform, Privatizing Social Security, and existing welfare policy, on minority and low-income populations. Her other research focuses on minority aging and health disparities. That work includes comparative analyses of the health, social, and economic status of the Latino, Korean, African American, and non-Hispanic white populations utilizing local and national data sets. Dr. Villa has also funded and conducted primary research that examines the influence that the war experience, veteran identity, and discrimination have on minority veterans’ health status. She has several manuscripts in this area of investigation. Her most recent work examines the health and mental health parallels among veterans of the Vietnam War and the Conflict in Iraq. Dr. Villa is conducting primary research in caregiving and health literacy among the Latino population. Dr. Villa’s primary goal as a scholar is to utilize her teaching, research, and service to build a bridge between the research, policy, and practice arenas for bettering the health and well-being of diverse populations. Dr. Villa has authored/ co-authored forty publications, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and policy briefs.
Office: Applied Gerontology Institute, Simpson Tower, ST 806
Email: [email protected]
Staff
Linda Valdez
Administrative Support Assistant
Office: Simpson Tower 816
Email: [email protected]
Office Phone: 323-343-4680