dr.keithwhitfield

Keith Whitfield, Ph.D

Keith Whitfield is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. His research on individual differences in minority aging includes both individuals as well as pairs of twins to understand influences on our memory and cognition, and how we can optimize aging. He has worked with researchers from Sweden, Russia, and the US to examine how social, psychological, and cultural factors of aging are affected by genetic and environmental influences that impact cognition during early to late-life. He recently completed a study of adult African American twins and is now conducting an analysis of gene-environment interactions.

Dr. Whitfield served as faculty for five different NIA-supported summer institutes designed to promote the development of junior faculty and students. He was a member of several major boards and committees (e.g., National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences Aging Mind; Research Agenda for the Social Psychology of Aging; NIA-Behavioral and Social Science Review; Advisory Board for Institute on Aging; Advisory Committee for the Export Center to Reduce Health Disparities in Rural South Carolina; Scientific Advisory Board for Academic Career Leadership Award; National Advisory Board for the Center for Urban African American Aging Research; & Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute on Aging). He also regularly reviews grants for the Alzheimer’s Association, was recently appointed to the editorial board for Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, and is an Associate Editor for Experimental Aging.