He received his doctorate in human development and family studies from Pennsylvania State University and his bachelor's in psychology and brain and cognitive science from the University of Rochester. He is a developmental psychologist with a general interest in studying psychosocial and health development in adulthood and old age from a lifespan perspective. More specifically, his research examines how older adults adapt resiliently to the developmental challenges and other life stressors that they face. He is also interested in identifying psychosocial factors that promote healthy aging outcomes and has extensive experience in the use of contemporary methods of longitudinal analysis, including latent growth curve (multilevel) modeling, growth mixture modeling, and survival models.