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Becca Levy, PhD

Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Psychology
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Additional Titles

Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

Contact Info

Yale School of Public Health

PO Box 208034, 60 College Street

New Haven, CT 06520-8034

United States

About

Titles

Professor of Public Health (Social and Behavioral Sciences) and Psychology

Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

Biography

Dr. Levy's research explores psychosocial factors that influence older individuals’ cognitive and physical functioning, as well as their longevity. She is credited with creating a field of study that focuses on how positive and negative age stereotypes, which are assimilated from the culture, can have beneficial and adverse effects, respectively, on the health of older individuals.Her studies have been conducted by longitudinal, experimental, and cross-cultural methods.

She has received numerous awards for her research including a Brookdale National Fellowship for Leadership in Aging, the Baltes Distinguished Research Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, the Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America and the Ewald W. Busse Research Award in the Social Behavioral Sciences from the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics that is given once every four years. She is an Associate Editor of the Handbook of Psychology of Aging, a consulting editor for Psychology and Aging, is on the founding editorial board of Stigma and Health, and serves on the editorial boards of GeroPsych and Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Science.

Dr. Levy has given invited testimony before the United States Senate on the effects of ageism and contributed to briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court in age-discrimination cases.

She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University and held a National Institute on Aging postdoctoral fellowship at the Division of Aging and Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Science Foundation, and The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.

Appointments

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard Medical School (1998)
PhD
Harvard University (1995)

Research

Overview

  • Psychosocial Determinants of Longevity
  • Psychosocial Factors that Contribute to Elders’ Successful Cognitive and Physical Functioning
  • Mechanisms by which Age Stereotypes Influence Older Individuals Health
  • Interventions to Improve Aging Health.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Aging; Environment and Public Health; Health Equity; Mental Health; Psychiatry and Psychology; Psychological Phenomena; Social Change; Social Justice; Social Sciences

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Becca Levy's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    Investigator Award for Outstanding Research in Public Health

  • honor

    Baltes Distinguished Research Achievement Award

  • honor

    Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award

  • honor

    Scholar Award for Research Related to Disadvantaged Older Adults

  • honor

    Ewald W. Busse Research Award for Excellence in Social Behavioral Sciences

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Office Fax Number
Mailing Address

Yale School of Public Health

PO Box 208034, 60 College Street

New Haven, CT 06520-8034

United States

Administrative Support

Locations

  • 60 College Street

    Academic Office

    Ste 408

    New Haven, CT 06510