I received my Master of Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley and Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from the University of California, San Francisco where I was also a Pew Health Policy Scholar.  My current interests are the intersection of biomedicine and aging, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease.  My research includes the historical development of medical conceptualizations of senile dementia that led to the transformation of “senility” into Alzheimer’s disease; the subsequent rise of a social movement dedicated to the eradication of the disease; the emergence of the movement’s emphasis on a cure in contrast to policy responses to address the service and support needs of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners; and the implications of the increasing emphasis on identifying the preclinical indicators of Alzheimer’s disease, especially as it relates to the social disenfranchisement of people living under the description of the disease.