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NORC at the University Chicago

GSA 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting
Booth #509  •  November 4-7  •  National Harbor, Maryland

 

The Gerontological Society of America is holding its 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting in National Harbor, Maryland—just minutes from Washington, D.C. 

NORC’s National Social Life, Health & Aging Project (NSHAP) team is looking forward to sharing research at GSA 2026, which will explore the theme Reinforcing Resilience in Aging Science, Research and Education.

At the conference, our team members will be highlighting the latest NSHAP data and information about the current phase of the project, Round 4.2. NSHAP is a nationally representative study of adults age 55 and older examining physical health, cognitive function, emotional well-being, social connections, and intimate relationships. We will be available to describe important changes in the Round 4 and 4.2/4.4 datasets and answer questions.

NSAHP Round 4.2 will be released in early 2027. This brief, interim round was added to capture important end-of-life events that may be missed between the main rounds’ five-year intervals. At GSA 2026, we will provide overviews of NSHAP’s unique offerings from its beginning in 2005 through the collection of NSHAP Round 5, which will begin in 2027.

NORC’s Martha Cowley will represent AmeriSpeak® at the event. Information will be available on Foresight 50+, a partnership between NORC and AARP to monitor the attitudes and behaviors of people age 50 and older.

Please stop by booth #509 to meet the members of our team and learn more about how NORC can help meet your research needs.

NORC at GSA 2026

At this year’s conference, our researchers will be exhibiting and showcasing work in 18 different presentations.

Wednesday, November 4

8:00–9:30 a.m. ET, National Harbor 4

  • Session: Early Life Influences on Later Life Cognitive Health
  • Presentation: Educational Lineage and Cognitive Decline: Do Networks Mediate Intergenerational Dis/Advantage?
  • Presenters: 
    • Markus Schafer, Baylor University
    • James Iveniuk, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

2:00–3:30 p.m. ET, Maryland Ballroom B

  • Session: Leveraging Large Datasets to Advance Elder Mistreatment Research and Prevention
  • Presentation: Prevalence and Severity of Emotional and Financial Elder Mistreatment in a Nationally Representative Sample
  • Presenters:
    • Ashwin Kotwal, University of California San Francisco
    • Mara Rosenberg, University of California San Francisco

Thursday, November 5

8:00–9:30 a.m. ET, Maryland Ballroom Breakout 1 

  • Session: Elder Abuse and Protection
  • Presentation: Using Cognitive Interviews to Strengthen Measurement of Elder Financial Exploitation in National Surveys
  • Presenters:
    • Arvind Ilamaran, Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC
    • Melissa Howe, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

10:00–11:30 a.m. ET, National Harbor 2 

  • Session: Climate Change, Disasters, Health Communication, and Aging 
  • Presentation: THIA: A Novel AI Platform for Studying Health Communication in Caregiver Mental Health 
  • Presenter: 
    • Amelia Burke-Garcia, Director, Center for Health Communication Science and Program Area Director, Digital Strategy & Outreach Program Area, Public Health

12:00–1:30 p.m. ET, National Harbor 7 

Symposium: Social Relationships and Health in Later Life, Cathy Liu, Purdue University 

  • Presentation: Integration and Isolation Over Time: Within-Person Social Dynamics and Later-Life Mental Health
  • Presenter:  
    • Alyssa Goldman, Boston College
  • Presentation: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Instability in Later Life: Differences by Gender
  • Presenter:
    • Elizabeth Avent, NSHAP Postdoctoral Fellow, The Bridge at NORC
  • Presentation: A Cross-National Harmonized Analysis of Cognitive Function and Network Change
  • Presenter: 
    • James Iveniuk, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

1:45–3:00 p.m. ET, Exhibit Hall C-D – Poster Board 240 

  • Session: Research Methods and Issues: Qualitative 
  • Presentation: Who’s Really Participating? Mitigating and Managing Fraud in the Era of AI and Online Gerontological Research 
  • Presenter:
    • Martha Cowley, Product Manager, AmeriSpeak 

Friday, November 6

12:00–1:30 p.m. ET, Maryland Ballroom Breakout 6

  • Session: Late Breaking: Climate and Aging 
  • Presentation: Effects of Exposure to Air Pollution on Physical and Mental Health in Older Adults 
  • Presenters: 
    • Anita Restrepo-Lachman, Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC 
    • Nell Compernolle, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC 
    • James Iveniuk, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC 
    • Melissa Howe, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

1:45–3:00 p.m. ET, Exhibit Hall C-D – Poster Board 419 

  • Session: Late Breaking Poster Session III 
  • Presentation: Does Informant Relationship Influence AD-8 Scores? Results from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project
  • Presenters:
    • Isaiah Milbauer, Research Associate, The Bridge at NORC
    • James Iveniuk, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC
    • Michelle Johns, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC
    • Melissa Howe, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Saturday, November 7

8:00–9:30 a.m. ET, Maryland Ballroom Breakout 1 

  • Session: Caregiving and Well-Being II
  • Presentation: When Family Is Not Enough: Gender and Strain in Latino Caregiving
  • Presenters:
    • Lissette Piedra, Senior Fellow, The Bridge at NORC 
    • James Iveniuk, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC 
    • Michelle Johns, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC
    • Melissa Howe, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

8:00–9:30 a.m. ET, Maryland Ballroom Breakout 1

  • Session: Caregiving and Well-Being II  
  • Presentation: Exploring a Flourishing Framework for Caregiver Mental Health: Preliminary Evidence from NSHAP
  • Presenter:
    • Cameron Beckett, University of Chicago

8:00–9:30 a.m. ET, National Harbor 7

  • Session: Public Health
  • Presentation: Medicare Knowledge and Understanding: Drivers and Implications for Care Navigation
  • Presenter:
    • Elise Comperchio, Senior Research Scientist, Health Sciences

10:00–11:30 a.m. ET, Chesapeake 7-9

  • Session: Formal Caregiving Workforce: Demands, Resources, and Electronic Verification 
  • Presentation: When Caregiving Meets Technology: A National Survey of Technology Use and Barriers Among Older Unpaid Caregivers 
  • Presenter:
    • Alycia Bayne, Associate Director, Public Health

12:00–1:30 p.m. ET, Chesapeake 10-12

  • Symposium: Real-Time Social Context, Emotion, and Cognitive Functioning in Later Life: Loneliness and Social Capital
  • Presentation: Real-Time Contexts and Momentary Loneliness: Perceived Quality and Differences by SES
  • Presenter:
    • Nell Compernolle, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

3:30–5:00 p.m. ET, Maryland Ballroom B

  • Session: Late Breaking: Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies 4
  • Presentation: Revisiting Social Connectedness in a Digital Age: Exploring the Role of Online Support by Age
  • Presenters:
    • Nell Compernolle, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC
    • Michelle Johns, Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Get in Touch

Elizabeth Avent
NSHAP Postdoctoral Fellow, The Bridge at NORC

Alycia Bayne
Associate Director, Public Health

Ellen Bloss
Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Amelia Burke-Garcia
Director, Center for Health Communication Science and Program Area Director, Digital Strategy & Outreach Program Area, Public Health

Elise Comperchio
Senior Research Scientist, Health Sciences

Nell Compernolle
Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Martha Cowley
Product Manager, AmeriSpeak

Jennifer Hanis-Martin
Senior Research Director, The Bridge at NORC

Louise Hawkley
Senior Fellow, The Bridge at NORC

Melissa Howe
Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Arvind Ilamaran
Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

James Iveniuk
Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Michelle Johns
Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Isaiah Milbauer
Research Associate, The Bridge at NORC

Colm O’Muircheartaigh
Senior Fellow, The Bridge at NORC and Faculty, University of Chicago

Lissette M. Piedra
Senior Fellow, The Bridge at NORC

Anita Restrepo-Lachman
Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Michael Reynolds
Senior Vice President & Director, The Bridge at NORC and Faculty, University of Chicago

I'deyah Ricketts
Research Associate, The Bridge at NORC

Linda Waite
Senior Fellow & Director, The Bridge at NORC and Faculty, University of Chicago

Jocelyn Wilder
Senior Research Scientist, The Bridge at NORC

Discover Our Work

National Social Life, Health & Aging Project

A pioneering nationally representative study of the intersection between social and intimate relationships and healthy aging

Client:

National Institute on Aging

Elder Abuse Survivor Equity (EASE) Study

A national survey to understand different forms of elder abuse to better protect older Americans

Client:

National Institute of Justice

Latino Aging Caregiver Network Study

Exploring informal caregiving experiences and networks of Latino families affected by dementia

Client:

National Institute on Aging

The Trusted Health Information Assistant (THIA)

A customizable AI platform for studying how audiences engage with health information

Chicago Health and Activity in Real-Time (CHART)

The first-ever study documenting how activity spaces change as people age

Client:

The National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health

Dementia DataHub: Visualizing Diagnosed Dementia in Medicare

The nation’s first data system reporting cases of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Client:

National Institute on Aging