Rachel Wilkie, Ph.D.

Rachel’s interest in population health research began during her studies in International Health, which enabled her to spend several weeks in a rural area of Malawi collecting data on the risk factors for TB mortality in this population. Since graduating from medical school in 2014, she gained over three years of clinical experience in Scotland working in multiple specialties, including over a year working in geriatric rehabilitation medicine, before deciding to pursue a PhD.

Her clinical work has highlighted the extent to which societal disparities in income, education, and neighborhood opportunities can affect health behavior, risk of illness and health outcomes. Through her MPH studies at the University of Queensland, she gained a keen interest in understanding health inequalities and why health differs widely by place, both within and between countries.

Rachel’s dissertation focuses on the role of life course (dis)advantage and place on inequalities in life expectancy and healthy aging in several high- and middle-income countries. The first part of her dissertation uses spatial and demographic methods to examine the contribution of census-tract multidimensional disadvantage to life expectancy inequalities in the US. The second part of her dissertation involves cross-national comparisons of five nationally representative surveys of older adults to explore how socioeconomic inequalities in healthy aging differ between contexts (which differ widely in terms of culture, health systems, and social policy) using measures of childhood disadvantage, education, income, and wealth.

Rachel’s research performed during her research assistantship with her co-chair Dr Jennifer Ailshire, examines the role of socioeconomic status and neighborhood deprivation and opportunity on inequalities in housing transitions, frailty, and wellbeing of people with dementia and their caregivers. In addition, other projects carried out during her PhD include cross-national comparisons of life expectancy, functional limitations, and frailty. Rachel has presented her research at several peer-reviewed conferences, including the Population Association of America and the Gerontological Society of America annual meetings in 2021, 2022, and 2023, as well as the USC Los Angeles Geospatial Summit in 2021.

Ph.D., Population, Health and Place, University of Southern California
Master of Public Health, University of Queensland, Australia
BMSc International Health, Upper 2nd Class Honours, University of Dundee, Scotland
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, University of Dundee, Scotland

Mawhorter SL, Wilkie RZ, Ailshire JA. Inequality in housing transitions during cognitive decline. PLoS One. 2023 Apr 12;18(4):e0282329. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282329. PMID: 37043418; PMCID: PMC10096249.

Under review:
Wilkie RZ, Choi EY, Farina MP, Lee J, Ailshire JA. Trends in educational inequalities in functional limitations among older adults across high- and middle-income countries. SSM Population Health, submitted May 2023.