Dr. Shibin Yan is a Senior Affiliate of Fox Leadership International at the University of Pennsylvania and a social gerontologist whose work focuses on aging policy and community-based care. His research examines how community services, family caregiving arrangements, and policy design shape older adults’ health and well-being, with particular attention to equity and service access among vulnerable populations.
Dr. Yan earned his PhD in Public Affairs and Community Development from Rutgers University–Camden. His doctoral research evaluated the impact of community-based services on older adults’ health and subjective well-being using longitudinal data and policy-relevant analytic approaches. His work contributes empirical evidence to inform the evaluation of long-term care systems in the context of rapid population aging.
Over more than six years at the Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs, Dr. Yan contributed to and led multiple interdisciplinary research and policy evaluation projects addressing community well-being, public health, and social services. His work involved mixed-methods research design, program evaluation, stakeholder engagement, and translating research findings into actionable policy recommendations for public and nonprofit partners.
In addition to his work at the Walter Rand Institute, Dr. Yan previously served as a healthcare specialist with a nonprofit organization in the United States supporting programs for older adults and veterans, and conducted policy research at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences in China. He actively engages with international policy communities and regularly presents his research at national and international conferences, including the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. His current work seeks to bridge research, policy, and practice to strengthen community-based care systems and promote healthy aging across diverse social and policy contexts.
