Alexandra “Xan” C.H. Nowakowski is an Assistant Professor in Geriatrics and Behavioral Sciences & Social Medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine. They are a medical sociologist, public health program evaluator, and community advocate. Their research, teaching, and outreach focus on health equity in aging with chronic disease. They use mixed methods to explore and amplify the experiences of marginalized populations to inform effective practice of chronic care for people aging with complex health challenges. They hold a PhD and MS in Medical Sociology from Florida State University, an MPH in Health Systems and Policy from Rutgers University, and a BA in Political Science from Columbia University. To all their professional activities they bring lessons learned from their own lived experience with cystic fibrosis and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Building on this history, they edited Negotiating the Emotional Challenges of Conducting Deeply Personal Research in Health with their spouse and frequent collaborator Dr. J Sumerau. They also co-authored the social fiction novel Other People’s Oysters focused on intergenerational environmental health and aging on Florida’s Forgotten Coast, and monographs on Transformations in Queer, Trans, and Intersex Health and Aging and Sexual Deviance in Health and Aging. They co-founded the academic blog Write Where It Hurts focused on scholarship informed by lived experience of trauma, and contribute to other blogs amplifying patient voices in science and medicine. Recently they also began editing a series with Rowman & Littlefield's Lexington Books imprint called Health and Aging in the Margins, focused on intersectionally marginalized experiences of growing older.
- Follow their personal Twitter (@XanNowakowski) and Facebook (@xan.nowakowski) profiles for additional information. You can also find them on LinkedIn (@xan-nowakowski-9a368b7) and ResearchGate (@Alexandra-xan-Nowakowski).
- For the collaborative blog on trauma informed scholarship, please visit Write Where It Hurts and the corresponding Twitter (@writewherehurts) and Facebook (@writewhereithurts) feeds.
- For the book series on marginalized experiences of aging, visit Rowman & Littlefield Health and Aging in the Margins.
Keywords: aging, chronic disease, clinical education, community partnerships, disability, epidemiology, health equity, interdisciplinary, LGBTQIA+ populations, life course, medical sociology, mixed methods, patient advocacy, program evaluation, public health, preclinical education, social psychology, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, trauma informed practice
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