Long-term Care Researcher Receives Distinguished Alumni Award

Kali Thomas, a School of Aging Studies PhD and MA program graduate, received a Distinguished Alumni award from the department and the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging on March 1, 2019.

Thomas is now an Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University and a Research Health Scientist at the Providence VA Medical Center. After receiving her PhD from the University of South Florida in 2011, she went to Brown on an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. Her research focuses on improving the quality of life of older adults needing long-term care services and supports.

She has received more than $6.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the AHRQ, the National Institute on Aging, and multiple foundations. While at USF to receive her award, she delivered a lecture to USF students and faculty on her latest investigations into assisted living, including her work to describe the assisted living population nationally and understand their health conditions and the regulations influencing their care.