Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., with Felix Agoi (Field Manager, Aga Khan University, Mombasa, Kenya)
Kellogg Researcher Launches First-of-its-Kind Study of Health and Aging in Kenya A U-M population research team led by Joshua Ehrlich, M.D.,
population and individual aging trends to form a clearer picture
M.P.H., is embarking on a study of population trends and
of Kenya’s age-related health risk factors.”
age-related health issues in Kenya.
LOSHAK will be the newest study in the growing inter-
Ehrlich, a co-director of the Jerome Jacobson
national network of studies based on the U-M Health and
International Program at the Kellogg Eye Center, is a clinician-scientist whose research portfolio addresses global challenges in vision impairment and population health. The Longitudinal Study of Health and Aging in Kenya (LOSHAK) will follow a cohort
Retirement Study (HRS), which has been gathering
“
and studying aging-related data in the U.S. since 1992. The HRS and the global network of HRS-based studies are overseen by the U-M Institute for Social Research, the
CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISONS
world’s largest academic social science
WITH DATA FROM OTHER HRS-BASED STUDIES
survey and research organization, where Dr. Ehrlich is a Research
WILL HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND HEALTH
Assistant Professor.
country. Factors to be tracked
AND AGING ACROSS THE GLOBE, PROVIDING
training, software and data process-
include the impact of vision
INSIGHTS FOR THE U.S. AND OUR CITIZENS.
in the Sub-Saharan African
impairment on health and wellbeing, Alzheimers disease and
“
of adults aged 45 and older
— Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H.
related dementias, mental health, air pollution and climate change, and factors influencing late-life economic well-being. “Today, Kenya’s population is relatively
LOSHAK will utilize interviewer ing developed for the HRS. Recruiting participants will be aided by a local research platform already established in coastal Kenya. “Ultimately, LOSHAK will provide comprehensive population-based measures of
health and economic well-being from mid- to
late-life,” Dr. Ehrlich explains. “Cross-national
young,” says Dr. Ehrlich. “But it faces a steep aging curve
comparisons with data from other HRS-based studies will help
over the next 30 years. There is a major gap in population-level
us better understand health and aging across the globe, provid-
data on aging in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study will track both
ing insights for the U.S. and our citizens.” 21
