Ke Li

Ke Li is a PhD candidate in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her MSW from Washington University in St. Louis, with the specialty in aging and mental health. She received her BA in social work at East China University of Science and Technology. Prior entering the PhD program, she worked as a research assistant on the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago Study (the PINE Study) examining multiple health determinants among older Chinese immigrants and their adult children.

Her research interest mainly focuses on understanding the potential mechanisms underlying the longitudinal effects of social isolation on the growth trajectories of loneliness and depression of older adults. She is also interested in examining the impacts of different patterns of social isolation and loneliness on older adult’s psychological well-being. She also conducted research involving a wide range of topics in later life, including the impacts of immigration experience and neighborhood segregation on cognitive functioning and depression of older Chinese immigrants, living arrangement and social engagement of older adults, and the impacts of grandparenting on psychological well-being.

Research Interests

• Social isolation and psychological well-being among older adults
• Productive engagement of older adults: employment, volunteering, grandparenting
• Intergenerational relationships
• Cognitive functioning and depression of older immigrants