Michael J. Lepore Appointed Associate Dean for Research in UMass Amherst Elaine Marieb College of Nursing

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Michael J. Lepore has been appointed associate dean for research of the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at UMass Amherst by Dean Allison Vorderstrasse. Effective Nov. 1, Lepore will succeed Cynthia Jacelon, who served the college in that position from 2020-23.

“Dr. Lepore brings a wealth of research leadership and expertise, particularly in older adult care and health policy,” Vorderstrasse says. “As a highly regarded mentor and leader, Dr. Lepore is well positioned to support the college’s growing research enterprise.”

With a background of serving as a nurse aide in a dementia care unit, Lepore most recently has been a member of the University of Maryland School of Nursing faculty, where he serves as co-director of the Center for Health Equity and Outcomes Research, and as a professor in the Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health. He is also a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as well as the associate director for the Community and Collaboration Core of the University of Maryland Baltimore’s Institute for Clinical Translational Research.

“I am tremendously excited to join the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing and the UMass Amherst campus community,” says Lepore. “I look forward to bringing my leadership and research experience to support faculty, staff, and trainees in advancing research and to help foster collaborative initiatives that support the mission of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology and philosophy from Assumption University, and his master’s and doctorate in sociology from Georgia State University, he completed his postdoctoral training in the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research at Brown University. For the following 15 years, he remained an adjunct research faculty at Brown while also advancing research focused on improving dementia care and residential long-term care through grants and contracts from many government sponsors, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Administration for Community Living/Administration on Aging, the assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission.

Throughout his career, Lepore has consistently served the scholarly community, with a focus on improving dementia care and residential long-term care, including through service and leadership on committees for the Alzheimer’s Association, American Public Health Association and Gerontological Society of America. His research focuses on improving dementia care and residential long-term care.