Molly PerkinsAssociate Professor (School of Medicine) and Graduate Faculty of Emory Sociology

• PhD, Georgia State University, 2002
• MA, Georgia State University, 1997
• BA, University of Mississippi, 1981

Dr. Perkins is a social gerontologist and medical sociologist with research interests in social determinants of health and disparities, aging in minority and vulnerable populations, functional wellness, and long-term care. She is a National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities Scholar and a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). A primary focus of her work is on addressing social, behavioral, and environmental aspects of chronic disease management.

Dr. Perkins co-directs the NIH Roybal Center for Dementia Caregiving Mastery at Emory University and is Co-Director of the Emory NIH Center for AIDS (CFAR) Research HIV and Aging Research Cluster. She also co-directs the national NIH Inter-CFAR HIV and Aging Working Group and is co-convener of the GSA HIV, AIDS, and Older Adults Interest Group.

In addition to her primary appointment as an associate professor in the Emory School of Medicine, Dr. Perkins is a member of the graduate faculty in the Emory Department of Sociology and has an adjunct faculty position in the Emory School of Nursing. In addition, she holds a joint appointment as a research health scientist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center where she is the Atlanta Site Director for Research for the Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC). Recent grant funding as Principal Investigator includes a 5-year longitudinal study funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA) (RF1AG069114) investigating informal caregiver involvement in end-of-life care of persons with advanced dementia in assisted living.