Spotlight: Crystal M. Glover, PhD

Crystal M. Glover, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Rush Medical College

Researcher, Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center

Crystal M. Glover, PhD, is a social psychologist, mixed-methodologist, and health equity in aging researcher at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (RADC) and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in Rush Medical College. She received her doctorate in social psychology and neuropsychology from Howard University and completed her postdoctoral research fellowship at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. She later joined the Department of Preventive Medicine at Rush Medical College as a BMO Harris Bank Health Disparities Research Fellow before being recruited into the Rush RADC as an Assistant Professor in August 2016. Glover has widely published her work in several high-impact scientific journals, including Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, CHEST, and Human Genetics. Common themes across her work pertain to social cognitive processes related to novel and sensitive health-related topics, recovery with psychiatric illnesses including disease management, and structural and psychosocial determinants of health. She focuses her efforts across all demographic groups but with a special concentration on collaborating with and inclusion of members of African American/Black and Hispanic/Latino communities that have been inequitably included and traditionally understudied in aging research. Since 2016, Glover has served as the Course Director and a Faculty Mentor for the Rush Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV and Aging (CEDHA) Summer Internship. This internship invites applications from high school and undergraduate students who belong to underrepresented communities in STEM to learn about, conceptualize, conduct, and present their community-based research.

She serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Steering Committee for the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers’ Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Cores. Furthermore, she has led the Rush RADC’s Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement Core since 2018. Glover continues to present her research at international and national scientific meetings. She also belongs to several professional groups, including:

The Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Risk Reduction, working to eradicate health disparities and facilitate health equity, nationally and locally.

What community initiatives have you been involved in or are currently working on at Rush?

Between Fall 2016 and Spring 2021, I served as the Course Director and a Faculty Mentor for the Rush Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV and Aging (CEDHA) Summer Internship. This has contributed to, in part, my mentorship of more than 20 students and trainees at various points in their education and careers.
In 2021, I served as a volunteer for the “Healthier You, Healthier Us” Health Fair hosted by the Rush Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV and Aging (CEDHA) in partnership with The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Community Outreach and Intervention Program and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
From 2017-2019, I served as a volunteer for the Back-to-School Health and Wellness Fair hosted by Rush Center of Excellence on Disparities in HIV and Aging (CEDHA) in partnership with The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Community Outreach and Intervention Program and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.
From 2017 -2019, I served as a Facilitator for the Community Member Review and Focus group for the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Pilot Grant Applications received at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center.

Fun Facts

I enjoy shopping for vintage jewelry and crystals.
I am from a small town in Louisiana - Alexandria.