Namkee Choi, PhD

Namkee Choi, PhD, is Professor and Louis and Ann Wolens Centennial Chair in Gerontology in the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She received her MSW degree from the University of Minnesota, PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and intensive geriatric mental health research training at the Advanced Research Institute in Geriatric Mental Health.  

Dr. Choi’s primary research/practice goal is to improve low-income, especially racial/ethnic minority, older adults’ access to mental health services. To realize this goal, Dr. Choi leads a team that has conducted randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of effectiveness of videoconferenced depression treatments and prevention (via improving social connectedness and reducing social isolation) for homebound older adults. Her community partners include Meals on Wheels, Area Agencies on Aging, and other aging service network agencies. She received funding from the NIH, AARP Foundation (national), and St. David’s Foundation. Dr. Choi has also done extensive research on late-life suicide and substance misuse among older adults.  She is the 2021 recipient of the Gerontological Society of America’s Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Contributions to Healthy Aging.