After earning his Ph.D. in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004, Turra spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Office of Population Research and the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University. Turra’s research encompasses many aspects of aging including the relationships between life challenges, social economic environment, health, and mortality in older populations. In 2012, Turra was elected the President of the Brazilian Association for Population Studies (2013-2014).