Amy Horowitz

MSW, Fordham

PhD, Columbia University

Adaptation to disability in later life

Depression and mental health interventions

Family caregiving to disabled older adults

Geriatric rehabilitation

Age-related sensory loss

Amy Horowitz is a professor and holds the Endowed Chair in Social Research at Fordham University's Graduate School of Social Service. She received her Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University in 1974 and her Ph.D. in 1982 from the Columbia University School of Social Work. Before joining the Fordham faculty in 2010, Dr. Horowitz was director of the Research Institute on Aging of Jewish Home Lifecare and held the Anna A. Greenwall Chair in the Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine (2006-2010). Previously, Dr. Horowitz was at Lighthouse International as senior vice president for research and evaluation, and director of the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute (1984-2006).

Dr. Horowitz has been the principal investigator on numerous research grants addressing aging issues, specifically on family relationships in later life, aging and disability, and the consequences of age-related sensory loss for everyday competence and mental health; and has published widely on topics relating family caregiving for the disabled elderly, adaptation to disability, and the interrelationships among late-life disability, depression and rehabilitation. Dr. Horowitz has been the principal investigator of three recent NIH-funded research studies: Control Strategies and Mental Health in Impaired Elders (NIMH), Driving Transitions and Mental Health in Disabled Elders (NIA), and Treating Subthreshold Depression in Older Adults in Community-Based Rehabilitation (NIMH).

Dr. Horowitz serves on the editorial boards of The Gerontologist and The Journal of Gerontological Social Work and reviews manuscripts for numerous other journals. She has also been a member of the NIH Scientific Review Committee on Mental Disorders and Aging and currently serves as a frequently invited reviewer on various NIH panels. Dr. Horowitz is a past president of the State Society on Aging of New York, a past chair of the Research Committee of the American Society on Aging, and a fellow and past chair of the Social Research, Practice, and Policy Section of the Gerontological Society of America. Currently, Dr. Horowitz is the director of research development of the Hartford Foundation Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar Initiative and serves on its National Advisory Board.

Brennan, M., Horowitz, A., Reinhardt, J.P., Stuen, C., Rubio, R., and Oestreicher, N. (2011). The societal impact of age-related macular degeneration: Use of social support resources differs by the severity of the impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 105, 5-19.

Schilling, O., Wahl, H-W., Horowitz, A., Reinhardt, J.P., and Boerner, K. (2011). The adaptation dynamics of chronic functional impairment: What vision loss in old age can tell us. Psychology and Aging. 26, 203-213.

Boerner, K., Brennan, M., Horowitz, A., and Reinhardt, J. P. (2010). Tackling disability in old age: An application of the life-span theory of control to narrative data. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 65B(1):22-31.

Reinhardt, J.P., Boerner, K., and Horowitz, A. (2009). Personal and social resources and adaptation to chronic visual impairment over time. Aging and Mental Health. 13, 367-375.

Reviewer Reserve, National Institute of Health, 1995-Present

Director of Research Development and Member, National Program Committee Member and Mentor, The John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program, 2001-Present

Member, American Academy of Nursing Geropsychiatric Nursing Collaborative, National Advisory Panel, 2008-2011

Member, Institutional Review Board, Hunter College of the City of New York, 1997-2010

Program Evaluation (Doctoral Program)

Observational Research (Doctoral Program)

Program and Proposal Development (Master's Program)

Fellow, Gerontological Society of America (GSA)

Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine

Brookdale Doctoral Fellowship, Brookdale Foundation/Columbia University, 1978-1979

National Research Service Award, National Institute of Mental Health, 1976-1978