Project Title: Pathways Linking Negative Self-Views of Aging to Physical Activity in Daily Life: An Intensive Within-Person Approach
Position: Assistant Professor
Institution: University of Mississippi
Funding NIH Institute/Center: National Institute on Aging
Grant ID: K99AG075259
Erica L. O’Brien has lived in various parts of the United States, as well as abroad. Her interest in science emerged from her undergraduate research experience, which focused on older adults and the experience of aging. She earned her BS in sociology from Virginia Tech and a PhD in psychology with an emphasis on lifespan development from North Carolina State University. In 2019, she began her postdoctoral training as a T32 fellow in the center for healthy aging at Pennsylvania State University. Her research interests are in understanding and promoting the everyday psychological and behavioral pathways that lead to healthy aging. Dr. O’Brien has consistently sought to integrate her scientific training with mentoring, education, and outreach activities aimed at engaging students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds in STEM work. She looks forward to continuing initiatives designed to promote diversity in science and academia as an independent investigator.