Elena Portacolone, PhD, MBA, MPH
Associate Professor
Institute for Health & Aging
School of Nursing

Her research aims at developing equitable policies and programs for older adults living alone with cognitive impairment in the United States, and worldwide, including ethical use of artificial intelligence. Dr. Portacolone is also designing and evaluating national interventions to increase the representation of communities of color in clinical trials on dementia.

Dr. Portacolone completed her undergraduate degree in political sciences (international major) at the University of Turin, Italy. After working in the corporate sector in the United Kingdom, she completed an MPH degree at School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, an MBA degree at the Haas Business at UC Berkeley, and a PhD in Sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Science at UCSF. Dr. Portacolone is an alumna of the Butler-Williams program at the National Institute on Aging and of the Health Disparities Institute at the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Dr. Portacolone has research experience in studying cognitive impairment, older adults who are racial/ethnic minorities, innovative recruitment strategies, as well as artificial intelligence and other technologies to support people with cognitive impairment age in place. She has led six investigations that focus on identifying barriers and facilitators to acute and long-term services and supports, increasing engagement of racial/ethnic minorities in dementia research, social integration, and emergency preparedness in vulnerable older adults, the majority of them living alone. The majority of study participants in her studies belong to racial/ethnic minorities. She has received extensive training in cognitive impairment, ethics, and advanced qualitative methods, as well as mixed methods.

• Understanding the concept of trust and other factors related to COVID-19 vaccine intentions among Black/African American older adults prior to vaccine development.
  SSM. Qualitative research in health 2023 Harris OO, Perry TE, Johnson JK, Lichtenberg P, Washington T, Kitt B, Shaw M, Keiser S, Tran T, Vest L, Maloof M, Portacolone E
• Factors related to COVID-19 vaccine intention in Latino communities.
  PloS one 2022 Perez A, Johnson JK, Marquez DX, Keiser S, Martinez P, Guerrero J, Tran T, Portacolone E
• Addressing Suicide Risk in Patients Living With Dementia During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond.
  The Gerontologist 2022 Portacolone E, Byers AL, Halpern J, Barnes DE
• Putting participants and study partners FIRST when clinical trials end early.
  Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association 2022 Largent EA, Walter S, Childs N, Dacks PA, Dodge S, Florian H, Jackson J, Llibre Guerra JJ, Iturriaga E, Miller DS, Moreno M, Nosheny RL, Obisesan TO, Portacolone E, Siddiqi B, Silverberg N, Warren RC,…
• Increasing engagement of Hispanics/Latinos in clinical trials on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
  Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.) 2022 Marquez DX, Perez A, Johnson JK, Jaldin M, Pinto J, Keiser S, Tran T, Martinez P, Guerrero J, Portacolone E
• The Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment Project's Policy Advisory Group on Long-Term Services and Supports: Setting a Research Equity Agenda.
  International journal of environmental research and public health 2022 Portacolone E, Torres JM, Johnson JK, Benton D, Rapp T, Tran T, Martinez P, Graham C
• Difficulties with Activities of Daily Living and Receipt of Care Among Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: Differences Between Those Living Alone and Those Living with Others.
  Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD 2022 Yang Y, Swinnerton K, Portacolone E, Allen IE, Torres JM, Duchowny K
• The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lived Experience of Diverse Older Adults Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment.
  The Gerontologist 2021 Portacolone E, Chodos A, Halpern J, Covinsky KE, Keiser S, Fung J, Rivera E, Tran T, Bykhovsky C, Johnson JK
• Use of Services by People Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review.
  Innovation in aging 2021 Rosenwohl-Mack A, Dubbin L, Chodos A, Dulaney S, Fang ML, Merrilees J, Portacolone E
• Earning the Trust of African American Communities to Increase Representation in Dementia Research.
  Ethnicity & disease 2020 Portacolone E, Palmer NR, Lichtenberg P, Waters CM, Hill CV, Keiser S, Vest L, Maloof M, Tran T, Martinez P, Guerrero J, Johnson JK
• Social Isolation, Social Integration and Intervention
  Generations 2020 Elena Portacolone
• Multi-cultural perspectives on group singing among diverse older adults.
  Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.) 2020 Allison TA, Nápoles AM, Johnson JK, Stewart AL, Rodriguez-Salazar M, Peringer J, Sherman S, Ortez-Alfaro J, Villero O, Portacolone E
• Difficulty and help with activities of daily living among older adults living alone with cognitive impairment.
  Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association 2020 Edwards RD, Brenowitz WD, Portacolone E, Covinsky KE, Bindman A, Glymour MM, Torres JM
• Expectations and Concerns of Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment About Their Relationship With Medical Providers: A Call for Therapeutic Alliances.
  Qualitative health research 2020 Portacolone E, Covinsky KE, Johnson JK, Halpern J
• Ethical Issues Raised by the Introduction of Artificial Companions to Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: A Call for Interdisciplinary Collaborations.
  Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD 2020 Portacolone E, Halpern J, Luxenberg J, Harrison KL, Covinsky KE
• Seeking a Sense of Belonging.
  Generations (San Francisco, Calif.) 2020 Portacolone E, Johnson JK, Halpern J, Kotwal A
• Walking the Tightrope between Study Participant Autonomy and Researcher Integrity: The Case Study of a Research Participant with Alzheimer's Disease Pursuing Euthanasia in Switzerland.
  Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE 2019 Portacolone E, Covinsky KE, Johnson JK, Rubinstein RL, Halpern J
• The Precarity of Older Adults Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment.
  The Gerontologist 2019 Portacolone E, Rubinstein RL, Covinsky KE, Halpern J, Johnson JK
• A framework to identify precarity in data collection and analysis: Toward a global precarity index. In A. M. Grenier, C. Philippson, & R. A. Settersten (Eds.), Precarity and Ageing: Understanding Changing Forms of Risk and Vulnerability in Later Life. London: Polity Press (In Press)
  A framework to identify precarity in data collection and analysis: Toward a global precarity index. In A. M. Grenier, C. Philippson, & R. A. Settersten (Eds.), Precarity and Ageing: Understanding Changing Forms of Risk and Vulnerability in Later Life. London: Polity Press (In Press) 2018 Portacolone, E.
• "I Feel Trapped": The Tension Between Personal and Structural Factors of Social Isolation and the Desire for Social Integration Among Older Residents of a High-Crime Neighborhood.
  The Gerontologist 2018 Portacolone E, Perissinotto C, Yeh JC, Greysen SR
• On Living Alone with Alzheimer's Disease.
  Care weekly 2018 Portacolone E
• The Effects and Meanings of Receiving a Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease When One Lives Alone.
  Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD 2018 Portacolone E, Johnson JK, Covinsky KE, Halpern J, Rubinstein RL
• Structural Factors of Elders' Isolation in a High-Crime Neighborhood: An In-Depth Perspective.
  The Public policy and aging report 2017 Portacolone E
• Psychosocial Influences on Disaster Preparedness in San Francisco Recipients of Home Care.
  Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 2017 Gershon RR, Portacolone E, Nwankwo EM, Zhi Q, Qureshi KA, Raveis VH
• What is new with old? What old age teaches us about inequality and stratification.
  Sociology compass 2017 Abramson CM, Portacolone E
• A Tale of Two Cities: The Exploration of the Trieste Public Psychiatry Model in San Francisco.
  Culture, medicine and psychiatry 2015 Portacolone E, Segal SP, Mezzina R, Scheper-Hughes N, Okin RL
• "Move or Suffer": Is Age-Segregation the New Norm for Older Americans Living Alone?
  Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society 2014 Portacolone E, Halpern J
• Older Americans living alone: The influence of resources and intergenerational integration on inequality
  Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 2014 Portacolone, E.
• Time to reinvent the science of dementia: the need for care and social integration.
  Aging & mental health 2013 Portacolone E, Berridge C, K Johnson J, Schicktanz S
• The notion of precariousness among older adults living alone in the U.S.
  Journal of aging studies 2013 Portacolone E
• Health And Development: The Role Of International Organizations In Population Aging. in Health and Development: The Role of International Organizations edited by A. Gatti and A.Boggio. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Reprinted in: Estes C, Chapman S, Dodd C, Hollister B, eds. Health Policy. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett;
  2012 Portacolone, E., Phillipson, Chris, Estes, Carroll. (2009)
• The myth of independence for older Americans living alone in the Bay Area of San Francisco: A critical reflection
  Aging and Society 2011 Portacolone, E.
• "Maggie Kuhn: Social Theorist of Radical Gerontology."
  International Journal of Sociology & Social Policy 2009 Portacolone, E., Estes, Carroll