Aaron Rosen Lecture [presented in person and live streamed]

Karen Fredriksen Goldsen, PhD, is Hooyman Endowed Professor and Director of the Healthy Generations Center at the Goldsen Institute, University of Washington School of Social Work. She is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar whose work addresses the intersections of health, longevity, gender, sexuality, and well-being in underserved and resilient communities. She was featured in CNN’s Trailblazers series, and named one of PBS’s Next Avenue’s inaugural “Top 50 Influencers in Aging.�

Dr. Fredriksen Goldsen has led multiple landmark studies, including Aging with Pride®: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (NHAS), the first national 15-year longitudinal study of sexual and gender diverse older adults. She also secured the first federally funded intervention study for sexual and gender diverse older people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and their care partners (Aging with Pride: IDEA). As Lead Multi-Principal Investigator, she advanced dementia care innovation through Care Cafés, designed for older adults living with dementia without care partners. She also directs Wellness with Pride, a national study of sexual and gender diverse adults’ health and resilience, and the Global Pride Project, a worldwide collaboration advancing research on sexuality, gender, and longevity across cultures.

Her research has investigated health and caregiving in historically marginalized communities worldwide�from HIV and aging in China, to intergenerational cardiovascular risk in Native American communities, and well-being among LGBTQ+ older Australians. She has authored more than 150 scholarly publications, seven books and special issues, and her work appears in leading journals such as American Journal of Public Health, The Gerontologist, and Social Work.

Dr. Fredriksen Goldsen’s research has been featured widely in the media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, Forbes, and more than 100 international outlets. She has been invited to present at U.S. White House conferences, National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, congressional briefings, the United Nations, and other international forums.

Her awards include the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award, the Gerontological Society of America’s Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Healthy Aging, the inaugural NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Distinguished Investigator Award, and the Association of Gerontology Education Career Achievement Award. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and the Gerontological Society of America, as well as a Hartford Scholar and Mentor.

Dr. Fredriksen Goldsen extends her expertise through classroom teaching and provided strategic leadership as a former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UW School of Social Work. She has served on many national, state and local boards and commissions, and founded several pioneering initiatives, including Generations Aging with Pride (GenPride), the GSA Rainbow Research Group, and Shanti/Seattle.