Dr. Pamela Yankeelov is the Director of Research at UofL’s Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging. She is also a Professor and the Associate Dean of Student Services, at Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville. She is trained as an experimental psychologist and the majority of her scholarly pursuits have focused on program evaluation specifically in the areas of health care for older adults. Dr. Yankeelov’s research explores the impact of the individual, relational, organizational, community and policy level influences on an older adult’s ability to manage their chronic diseases with emphasis on rural and minority populations. She is currently the program evaluator on a 2.5 million Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program grant awarded by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Prior to that, Dr. Yankeelov was an evaluator on a 2.5 million, 5 year Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant to eliminate health disparities for rural individuals living with diabetes, specifically older and low income, by mobilizing a coalition to complete a socio-ecological framed needs assessment followed by evidence informed action. Dr. Yankeelov enjoys working collaboratively with communities at a grassroots level to produce sustainable change within the community and also relishes her work with healthcare systems.  Prior to her work on social determinants of health, her scholarly pursuits focused on program evaluation specifically in the areas of child welfare, post-divorce adjustment, and interdisciplinary training.  She has co-written 34 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and 27 technical reports, has given 67 paper and poster presentations at national and international conferences, and participated in 18 state contracts, foundation and federal grants.