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Rebeca Wong

Contact

wongr3@uthscsa.edu

Departments & Divisions

Institutes & Centers

Rebeca Wong, PhD

Professor

Long Endowed Chair of Hispanic Healthy Aging, Long School of Medicine

Director, Center for Hispanic Healthy Aging

Dr. Wong is a PhD population economist with 35 years of experience, with multi-disciplinary research that has been funded continuously by the NIA/NIH for the last 30 years. Her research includes a variety of topics related to the wellbeing of older adults, using a life course and multi-disciplinary perspective, with keen interest in health disparities in the populations of Mexico and US Hispanics. Dr. Wong serves as PI of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS, www.MHASweb.org), a 23-year longitudinal cohort study funded by NIA/NIH and the Mexican Statistical Bureau (INEGI), to examine the health and mortality of Mexican older adults with a wide socioeconomic perspective, including an emphasis on past migration to the United States. From the start, the study was designed to be highly comparable to the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

The MHAS includes an ancillary study for cognitive aging (Mex-Cog), which is part of the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP), applied to a sub-sample of the MHAS. This protocol has been harmonized and implemented in several countries, in coordination with the HRS, to study dementia and cognitive aging around the globe. Mex-Cog has completed two waves of data collection, with plans for a third in 2026.

Dr. Wong has served in several leadership positions, such as co-leader of P30 research infrastructure programs and cores, as PI of T32 training grants, and as Director of a World Health Organization/Panamerican Health Organization (WHO/PAHO) Collaborating Center on Aging and Health. She currently serves as co-mentor of three K-awards for faculty career development, and main advisor for a doctoral dissertation F31 award, all in the field of aging and health disparities and funded by NIA.

  • Professional Background

    Education

    • 1987 - PhD - Economics - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

    Highlights

    • 2024 Elected Honorary Member of the Mexican National Academy of Medicine, Mexico
    • 2023 Chair, National Academy of Science Planning Committee for conference on setting a research agenda for aging in low-middle-income countries.
    • 2021-2022 Member, Council of Councils Working Group on Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Integration, NIH
    • 2019-2022 Member, National Advisory Council, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

    Appointments

    • 2024-Present - Professor - Department of Population Health Sciences, UT Health San Antonio (UTHSA)
    • 2024-Present - Long Endowed Chair of Hispanic Healthy Aging - Long School of Medicine, UTHSA
    • 2024-Present - Director, Center for Hispanic Healthy Aging - Barshop Inst for Longevity and Aging Studies, UTHSA
    • 2008-2024 - Professor of Population Health; Associate Director and Director ad interim, Sealy Center on Aging - Univ of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)

  • Research & Grants

    Grants

    Research Grants (Active)

    • The Mexican Health and Aging Study: MHAS

    NIH/NIA 5 R01 AG018016-17 Wong (PI) 9/30/1999 - 3/31/2028

    • MHAS Cognitive Aging Ancillary Study

    NIH/NIA 5R01AG051158 Wong (PI) 9/1/2015 – 5/31/2020 (this project is now part of the MHAS grant above)

    • The Texas Resource Center on Minority Aging Research (RCMAR)

    NIH/NIA 5 P30 AG0593-06 Markides and Riosmena (MPI), Role: Co-leader of REC and Mentor 9/30/2018 – 6/30/2028

  • Publications

      Recent Publications (Selection)

      https://scholars.uthscsa.edu/en/persons/rebeca-wong

      1. Samper-Ternent R, Zazueta-Borboa JD, Michaels-Obregon A, Reyes-Dumeyer D, Barral S, Tosto G, Wong R. Mexican Health and Aging Study Biomarker and Genetic Data Profile. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Dec 11;80(1). PMID: 39692026; PMCID: PMC11653003.
      2. Gonzalez-Gonzalez C, Orozco-Rocha K, DeGraff DS, Samper-Ternent R, Wong R. COVID-19 and mental health outcomes of older adults: Evidence from Mexico. Health Aff (Millwood). 2023;42(12):1675-1680. PMID: 38048498. PMCID: PMC Journal in Process.
      3. Wong R, García-Peña C, Gutiérrez-Robledo LM, Aguila E, Samper-Ternent R. 20 years of the Mexican Health and Aging Study. Salud Publica Mex. 2023 Sep 15;65(5, sept-oct):423-424. doi: 10.21149/15311. PMID: 38060907.
      4. Arce Rentería M, Briceño EM, Chen D, Saenz J, Kobayashi LC, Gonzalez C, Vonk JMJ, Jones RN, Manly JJ, Wong R, Weir D, Langa KM, Gross AL. Memory and language cognitive data harmonization across the United States and Mexico. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2023 Sep 13;15(3): e12478. PMID: 37711154. PMCID: PMC10498430.
      5. Avila JC, Meija-Arango S, Jupiter D, Downer B, Wong R. The effect of diabetes on the cognitive trajectory of older adults in Mexico and the U.S. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021;76(4):e153-e164. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbaa094. PMID: 32678911. PMCID: PMC7955990.
      6. Mejia-Arango S, Nevarez R, Michaels-Obregon A, Trejo-Valdivia B, Mendoza-Alvarado LR, Sosa-Ortiz AL, Martinez-Ruiz A, Wong R. The Mexican Cognitive Aging Ancillary Study (Mex-Cog): Study Design and Methods. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2020 Nov/Dec;91:104210. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2020.104210. Epub 2020 Jul 27. PMID: 32781379; PMCID: PMC7854788.
      7. Wong R, Michaels-Obregon A, Palloni A. Cohort Profile: The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Int J Epidemiol. 2017 Apr 1;46(2):e2. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyu263. PMID: 25626437; PMCID: PMC5837398.