Dr. Berkman is a social epidemiologist whose work focuses extensively on psychosocial influences on health outcomes. Her research has been oriented towards understanding social inequalities in health related to socioeconomic status, different racial and ethnic groups, and social networks, support and social isolation. The majority of her work is devoted to identifying the role of social networks and support in predicting declines in physical and cognitive functioning, onset of disease and mortality, especially related to cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease.

The primary studies in which Dr. Berkman is involved are several large prospective cohort studies:

• Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly Studies (EPESE) and
  
• MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging longitudinal studies in communities.

The New Haven EPESE study of 2,812 men and women is one of four NIA-funded studies of randomly sampled community-dwelling men and women 65 years of age or older. The studies were initiated in 1982 and are ongoing. Major findings have focused on both biomedical and psychosocial predictors of health and functioning in older cohorts. The MacArthur Foundation studies have focused on developing new paradigms and methods for assessing functional status and resilience in older ages. In addition, the MacArthur studies have involved the collection of neuroendocrine measures to identify mechanisms by which psychosocial experiences may influence health outcomes.

The second set of studies are clinical trials to test the effects of psychosocial interventions in improving prognosis in people with cerebrovascular or cardiovascular disease. Both these studies were initiated in 1995 and concluded in 2001. The first of these studies, Families in Recovery From Stroke Trial (FIRST), funded by NINDS, is a study of stork patients drawn from the Boston area randomly allocated to usual are or to a home-based psychosocial intervention aimed at improving social support among the stroke patients. The second study, Enhanced Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease (ENRICHD), is a multi-center trial funded by NHLBI to examine the role of a psychosocial intervention aimed at decreasing social isolation and depression and decreasing mortality in post-myocardial infarction patients.

Ph.D., 1977, University of California, Berkeley