PhD Student News

Congratulations to Gillian Marshall: School of Social Work Magnuson Fellow for 2009-2010

The prestigious Magnuson Scholarship is awarded each year to one student in each of the six University of Washington Health Sciences schools. Selection criteria are academic performance and the student’s potential for contribution to research in the health sciences. The late Senator Warren G. Magnuson, in whose name the program was established, was committed to improving the nation’s health through biomedical research and was instrumental in establishing the National Institutes of Health, Medicare, and Medicaid during his long career in the U.S. Senate.

Gillian’s dissertation research focuses on racial and ethnic differences in depressive symptoms among older adults. She will be using data from the National Survey of American Life to examine differences between older African Americans and Caribbean Blacks. The Black population in the U.S. has become more diverse in recent decades, and very few studies have examined within-group variability. While African Americans and Caribbean Blacks share a common race, there is considerable heterogeneity between them with respect to history, experience, living context, beliefs, and cultural norms. Such diversity raises fundamental questions regarding the methodologies used to conduct research involving ethnic minorities.