UMass Boston

Expertise: Transportation and aging, Alzheimer’s disease, Age-Friendly Universities, Healthy aging

PhD, Heller Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare, Brandeis University

• Author Page on Scholarworks
• Jansen, T., Lee, C.M., Xu, S., Silverstein, N.M. & Dugan, E. (2022), The town-level prevalence of chronic lung conditions and death from COVID-19 among older adults in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Prev Chronic Dis 2022;19:210421.
• Dugan, E., Porell, F., Silverstein, N.M., & Lee, C.M. (2022). Healthy aging data reports: Measures of community health to identify disparities and spur age-friendly progress. The Gerontologist, 62(1), e28-e38.
• Silverstein, N.M., Whitbourne, S.K., Bowen, L.M., Montepare, J., Beaulieu, C., Jansen, T., & Prasad, A. (2022). Assessing age inclusivity in higher education: Introducing the Age-Friendly Inventory and Campus Climate Survey (ICCS). The Gerontologist, 62(1), e-48-e61.
• Porell, F., Dugan, E., Silverstein, N.M., Lee, C.M. (2021). A new measure of community health: Findings from the healthy aging data reports. The Gerontologist. gnab118
• Zhang, K., Kim, K., Silverstein, N.M., Song, Q., & Burr, J. (2020). Social media communication and loneliness among older adults: The mediating roles of social support and social contact. The Gerontologist, gnaa197
• Silverstein, N.M. (2020). It started with a phone call… Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 41(4), pp. 394–395.
• Silverstein, N.M., Pitheckoff, N., & Dugan, E. (2019) Introducing students to healthy aging within their own communities: An online applied research experience, Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2019.1697252
• Silverstein, N.M., Hendricksen, M., Bowen, L.M., Fonte Weaver, A.J., & S. Krauss Whitbourne (2019): Developing an Age-Friendly University audit: a pilot study, Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 40 (2): 203-220. DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2019.1572006
• Dickerson, A.E., Molnar, L.J., Bédard, M., Eby, D.W., Berg-Weger, M., Choi, M., Grigg, J., Horowitz, A., Meuser, T., Myers, A., O’Connor, M., & Silverstein, N.M. (2017). Transportation and aging: An updated research agenda to advance safe mobility among older adults transitioning from driving to non-driving. The Gerontologist. DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnx120
• Nadash, P., Silverstein, N., Porell, F. (2017). The Dementia Care Coordination Program: Engaging Health Systems in Caregiver Supports. Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice. DOI: 10.1177/1471301217697466
• Silverstein, N.M., Dickerson, A., & Schold Davis, E. (2016). Community Mobility and Dementia: The Role for Health Care Professionals in Dementia Care: An Evidence-Based Approach, Boltz, M., & Galvin,J., Editors. Springer Publications: 123-148.
• Silverstein, N., & Turk, K. Students explore supportive transportation for older adults (2015). Gerontology & Geriatrics Education/Routledge Taylor & Francis. DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2015.1005289
• Silverstein, N.M. (2015). Think globally, act locally. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education. 36:1-2. DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2014.1003506
• Eby, D., Silverstein, N., Lisa, M., LeBlanc,. D., Adler, G..(2012). Driving Behaviors in Early Stage Dementia: A Study Using In-Vehicle Technology. Accident Analysis & Prevention.
• Womack, J.L., & Silverstein, N.M. (2012). The Big Picture: Comprehensive Mobility Options. In Maguire, M.J., & Schold Davis, E. (Eds). Driving and Community Mobility, Occupational Therapy Strategies Across the Lifespan. Bethesda: American Occupational Therapy Association Press: 19-48.
• Silverstein, N.M., and Gottlieb, A.S., (2011). Chronic Disease Self Management Programs: Relevance for Persons with Dementia. Publisher: Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston
• Silverstein, N.M., Gottlieb, A.S., Eby, D.W., Molnar, L.J., Kwan, N., Materdey, T., Adler, G., & Van Ranst, E. (2011). Do Memory-Impaired Drivers and Their Family Members Agree on Driving Ability and Behaviors? Transportation Research Record. (No. 2265): 200-206. Doi: 10.3141/2265-23.
• Silverstein, N.M. (April 26, 2011). Guest Blogger: Explore Community Mobility Options. Safe Driving for a Lifetime Blog. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Retrieved 5/24/11 from:
• Silverstein, N.M. (2011). Expert’s Corner. In Chapter 10: Transportation in Niles-Yokum, K., & Wagner, D.L., The Aging Networks. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company: 159-160.
• Wong, C., and Silverstein, N.M. (2011). Massachusetts’ Home Care Programs and Reasons for Discharge into Nursing Homes. Publisher: Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston.
• Silverstein, N.M., Gottlieb, A.S., Eby, D.W., Molnar, L.J., Kwan, N., Materdey, T., Adler, G., & Van Ranst, E. (2011). Do Memory-Impaired Drivers and Their Family Members Agree on Driving Ability and Behaviors? Transportation Research Record. (No. 2265): 200-206. DOI: 10.3141/2265-23.
• Dugan, E., Porell, F., Silverstein, N.M., & Lee, C.M. (2022). Healthy aging data reports: Measures of community health to identify disparities and spur age-friendly progress. The Gerontologist, 62(1), e28-e38.

Nina M. Silverstein is Professor of Gerontology, University of Massachusetts Boston.  Her PhD is from Brandeis University. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and has held leadership roles in that organization, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, and the Alzheimer’s Association. She has published on the impact of dementia on home, community, institutional and acute care; community mobility; and on a broad range of issues in gerontology. She co-authored three books: Dementia and Wandering Behavior: Concern for the Lost Elder; Improving Hospital Care for Persons with Dementia, and Introduction to Senior Transportation. She is a Co-Investigator on healthy aging data reports in the New England states funded through the Point32 Health Plan Foundation (formerly Tufts Health Plan Foundation), and Principal Investigator on the age friendly university research funded by the RRF Foundation for Aging (formerly the Retirement Research Foundation). 

Her research interests focus on transportation and aging with an emphasis on persons with dementia and on age inclusivity in higher education.

Curriculum Vitae