Yuri Jang is a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her doctoral degree in Aging Studies at the University of South Florida in 2000. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of South Florida Institute on Aging and at the University of Georgia Gerontology Center. Before she joined the University of Texas at Austin in 2012, she served as an associate professor in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida.
Professor Jang’s areas of interest include positive adaptation in aging, health disparities, and minority health and service utilization. She has completed a project “Aging, Acculturation, and Health” funded by the National Institute on Aging (R03AG 26332). Her projects on mental health literacy among minority older adults were funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH081094) and the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute. She has also completed a project on telecounseling for linguistically isolated older adults with funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R03HS020636). Her project, “Limited English Proficiency, Health, and Healthcare among Older Immigrants,” has recently awarded an R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01AG47106). She has also received funding from the City of Austin for her project “Asian American Quality of Life (AAQoL).”
She serves as an associate editor for Ethnicity and Health and an editorial board member for Clinical Gerontologist and Women, Gender, and Families of Color. She has received numerous honors and awards including minority fellowships from Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and American Psychological Association (APA), Emerging Professional Award from the APA Division 45, Career Achievement Award from the Korean American Social Work Educator Association, Faculty Mentor Award, and Recognizing Asians Instilling Strength and Excellence (RAISE) Award. She is an elected Secretary of the GSA (2017-2020).