Alexis Bender, PhD

Alexis is the evaluation core lead for Georgia Gear. She provides support to the program by conducting process and outcome evaluation and providing qualitative evaluation expertise.

When Alexis is not working on Georgia Gear related projects, she is an Associate Professor at the Emory University School of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics, and Rehabilitation Medicine, as well as in the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences Education in the Rollins School of Public Health. She also serves as the Process and Implementation Evaluation Lead for the Georgia Memory Net and has funding for multiple projects in co-investigator and principal investigator from the NIH. Alexis has a PhD in Sociology with a concentration in family, health, and the life course and an interdisciplinary certificate in gerontology. Alexis’ research interests examine the intersections of social support and chronic disease, including substance use and HIV, across the life course.

Before joining the faculty at Emory in 2016, Dr. Bender was the Field Studies and Evaluation Lead for the Behavioral and Social Health Outcomes Program at the U.S. Army Public Health Center at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. In this position, she led a team of interdisciplinary researchers to conduct mixed methods research and evaluation of social and behavioral health among active-duty soldiers and their families (e.g. behavioral health access, suicide, violence).

In her free time, she enjoys running and baking—but not simultaneously! She also enjoys spending time with her partner, Greg, and her high-energy dog, Moxie. When the weather is nice, she enjoys working on her 100+-year-old home in Grant Park.