Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy– Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

A two-time alumnus of Wayne State University, Wassim Tarraf has made significant contributions to our understanding of the social determinants of health, specifically through evaluating disparities in health, health behavior, and health care access and use among U.S. minorities. A nationally recognized expert in gerontology, big data methodology, health services research and policy analysis, he is continually sought after to provide support and consultation on a range of research projects.

Tarraf is an affiliated investigator on the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), the largest epidemiological study of diverse Hispanic/Latinos in the United States, and the director of analytics for the Study of Latinos – Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-INCA) Lab, a joint initiative of Wayne State's Institute of Gerontology and the University of California San Diego Department of Neurosciences. In addition, he is the site PI and lead biostatistician on three National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded studies on cognitive aging and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia risk factors among Latinos, and two exploratory grants funded by NIA and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to examine sleep as a risk factor for unhealthy aging among Latinos.

Tarraf maintains both a strong research program and a commitment to advancing the careers of emerging scientists. In addition to providing mentorship to nearly 20 current and former undergraduate and graduate students, he provides mentorship as the Analysis Core Co-Leader for the NIA-funded Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging research (MCUAAR) and as a faculty affiliate with the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer's Disease (MCCFAD). These two Resource Centers for Minority Aging are primarily focused on training the next generation of researchers in minority health and diversifying the aging research community.

Member since 2022