Krista Harrison, PhD

Krista Harrison, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS). Her research aims to mitigate suffering by improving models of care & policies for older adults living with, dying from, and grieving neurodegenerative diseases and other serious illnesses. She uses quantitative data to examine population-level needs and generate qualitative and mixed-methods data to inform the development of policy recommendations or gerineuropalliative interventions for community-dwelling people with dementia and care partners. Her work currently focuses on equity in end-of-life and hospice care for people with dementia and their care communities.

Dr. Harrison completed her PhD in health policy and bioethics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; postdoctoral training in aging research and implementation science at UCSF, and an Atlantic Fellowship for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute. Before joining UCSF, Dr. Harrison was an executive leader at a large nonprofit community-based hospice and palliative care organization. Dr. Harrison's currently serves as co-lead of the Vulnerable Aging Research Core of the Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Center.