Raina Croff, Ph.D.

  • Associate Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine
  • Chair, Diversity and Inclusion Committee , Neurology, School of Medicine

Biography

Raina Croff, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Neurology at OHSU'S Oregon Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Her work focuses on creating culturally celebratory approaches to physical activity, social engagement, and reminiscence therapy for healthier aging, particularly amidst the trauma of gentrification and its implications for older Black adults' cognitive health and social connectedness. She received her PhD in Anthropology from Yale University in 2009 and applies her training as an anthropologist of the African Diaspora to designing brain health interventions that celebrate Black culture, history, and community memory. Dr. Croff leads the Sharing History through Active Reminiscence and Photo-imagery (SHARP) Study that blends neighborhood walking and social reminiscence to maintain cognitive health among older healthy and mildly cognitively impaired older African Americans. SHARP has been supported by the Alzheimer’s Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer's Foundation of America, and the Roybal Center for Translational Research.

Dr. Croff began her career as an archaeological anthropologist of the African Diaspora, leading excavation research on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Goree Island, Senegal where she examined the intersection of human behavior, inequality, and material culture. Her early work  led her to focus on medical anthroplogy and how culture and society influence and are influenced by health, disease, and health beliefs. In more recent years, Dr. Croff has applied her anthroplogical lens to American Indian/Alaska Native traditional approaches to substance use disorder treatment, and currently, to cognitive health, cultural neuroscience, and neuroanthropology.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • Ph.D., 2009, Yale University

  • Certifications

    • Certificate of Human Investigations, Oregon Clinical and Translational Research, OHSU

Memberships and associations:

  • The Gerontological Society of America
  • PreSERVE Coalition for African American Memory and Brain Health, Portland, Oregon. Board Member
  • ISTAART - International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment
  • American Academy of Neurology

Areas of interest

  • Healthy aging. Health disparities. Alzheimer's disease. African American brain health. African American community health. Oral history
  • social engagement
  • reminiscence for brain health. Physical activity for brain health. Neuroanthropology. Medical anthropology. Cultural approaches to brain health interventions. Gentrification and healthy aging.

Honors and awards

  • Alzheimer's Association Research Grant to Promote Diversity, 2017
  • National Institutes on Aging Butler-Williams Scholar, 2016
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy Brain Research Network Scholar, 2014-2016
  • Michigan Center for Urban African Americans Aging Research Summer Scholar, July 2015
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse Travel Grant to present at Addiction Health Services Research conference, 2011
  • Alzheimer's Foundation of America Grant, 2018
  • Best Clinical Research Presentation, Neurology Research Day 2018
  • Nominee for Department of Neurology, OHSU-Silver Family Faculty Excellence and Innovation Award (1 early-career faculty nominated per OHSU department), 2019
  • American Academy of Neurology Diversity Leadership Program, competitive, 10-person national cohort, 2020

Publications

Selected publications

  • Croff R, Tang W, Friedman DB, Balbim GM, Belza B. Training the next generation of aging and cognitive health researchers. Gerontol Geriatr Educ. 2020 Sep 25:1-17. doi: 10.1080/02701960.2020.1824912. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32975172.
  • Ordaz-Johnson OH, Croff RL, Robinson LD, Shea SA, Bowles NP. More Than a Statistic: a Qualitative Study of COVID-19 Treatment and Prevention Optimization for Black Americans. J Gen Intern Med. 2020 Oct 6. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06259-2. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33021713.
  • Denny, A, Streitz, M, Stock, K, et al. Perspective on the “African American participation in Alzheimer disease research: Effective strategies” workshop, 2018. Alzheimer's Dement. 2020; 1– 11. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12160.
  • Proulx J, Croff R, Hebert M, Oken B. Results of a mindfulness intervention feasibility study among elder African American women: A qualitative analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2020;52:102455.
  • Quinn, K., Miyawaki, C. E., Croff, R., Vogel, M. T., Belza, B., Souza, A. M., … Friedman, D. B. (2020). Terms and Measures of Cognitive Health Associated with Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Scoping Review. Research on Aging, 42(5–6), 174–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027520911284.
  • Croff, R., Gowen, L., Lindauer, A., Shofner, S., Brown, K., Eckstrom, E. (2020). Including Older Rural Adults in Research: Practical Guidance for Addressing the NIH Inclusion Across the Lifespan Policy. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 1-21. 10.1017/cts.2020.12.
  • Lindauer A, Croff R, Mincks K, Mattek N, Shofner SJ Bouranis N, Teri L. It Took the Stress out of Getting Help: The Star-C-Telemedicine Mixed Methods Pilot. Care Weekly. 2018; 2:7-14 doi 10.14283/cw.2018.4 Epub 2018 Jul 3
  • Croff, R., Witter, P., Walker, M., Francois, E., Quinn, C., Riley, T., Sharma, N., Kaye, J. Things are Changing So Fast: Integrative Technology for Preserving Cognitive Health and Community History. The Gerontologist. Volume 59, Issue 1, 9 2019, Pages 147–157, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny069
  • Croff, R., Alanis-Hirsch, K., Hoffman, K., Ford, J., Schmidt, L., McCarty, D. Overcoming Barriers to Adopting and Implementing Pharmacotherapy: The Medication Research Partnership. Journal for Behavioral Health Services Research. Accepted for publication on March 15, 2018.
  • Proulx, J., Croff, R., Oken, B. et al. Considerations for Research and Development of Culturally Relevant Mindfulness Interventions in American Minority Communities. Mindfulness (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0785-z

Publications

  • Life-Space Mobility Is Related to Loneliness Among Living-Alone Older Adults

    Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
    1. Kexin Yu
    2. Chao Yi Wu
    3. Lisa L. Barnes
    4. Lisa C. Silbert
    5. Zachary Beattie
    6. Raina Croff
    7. Lyndsey Miller
    8. Hiroko H. Dodge
    9. Jeffrey A. Kaye

  • Are We Talking About the Same Thing? Black/African Americans’ Response to the BRFSS Cognitive Decline and Caregiver Modules

    Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
    1. Andre Pruitt
    2. Raina Croff
    3. Linda Boise
    4. Jeffrey Kaye

  • Belonging, endurance, and resistance

    Social Science and Medicine
    1. Omar H. Ordaz
    2. Raina L. Croff
    3. La Troy D. Robinson
    4. Steven A. Shea
    5. Nicole P. Bowles

  • Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial (I-CONECT) Among Socially Isolated Adults 75+ Years Old With Normal Cognition or Mild Cognitive Impairment

    Gerontologist
    1. Hiroko H. Dodge
    2. Kexin Yu
    3. Chao Yi Wu
    4. Patrick J. Pruitt
    5. Meysam Asgari
    6. Jeffrey A. Kaye
    7. Benjamin M. Hampstead
    8. Laura Struble
    9. Kathleen Potempa
    10. Peter Lichtenberg
    11. Raina Croff
    12. Roger L. Albin
    13. Lisa C. Silbert
    14. Elena Alfaro
    15. Mattie McDonald
    16. Jacob Lindsey
    17. Colton Scavone
    18. Nita Sheridan
    19. Khoa Nguyen
    20. Alexis Ellis
    21. Louis Weisberg
    22. Deborah Moore
    23. Brandy Peacock
    24. Brennan Heller
    25. Carissa Thornall
    26. Sandy Ruhf
    27. Mary Ziemer-Mcginn
    28. Farah Custodio
    29. Diane Farrell
    30. Aimee Lynch
    31. Dillon Banker
    32. Gracia Reyes
    33. Kathryn Rabe
    34. Laura Seeton
    35. Jessica Pedroza
    36. David Forystek
    37. Nicolas May
    38. Jonathan Reader
    39. Arijit K. Bhaumik

  • Understanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Roles in Academic Neurology Departments

    Neurology
    1. Andrew R. Spector
    2. Nimish A. Mohile
    3. Madeline Chadehumbe
    4. Raina Croff
    5. Charles C. Flippen
    6. Camilo A. Gutierrez
    7. Roy H. Hamilton
    8. Rodney Leacock
    9. Teshamae S. Monteith
    10. Cumara O’Carroll
    11. Alice Rutatangwa
    12. Reena P. Thomas

  • Walking and Social Reminiscence in Gentrifying Neighborhoods

    Gerontologist
    1. Raina Croff
    2. Sophia Aron
    3. Anne Wachana
    4. Patrice Fuller
    5. Nora Mattek
    6. Juell Towns
    7. Jeffrey Kaye

  • Including Socially Isolated Black, Older Old Adults (Aged 80 and Above) with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment in a Clinical Trial

    Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
    1. Laura M. Struble
    2. Kathleen Potempa
    3. Peter A. Lichtenberg
    4. Raina L. Croff
    5. Alexis Ellis
    6. Hiroko H. Dodge

  • Walking and Talking

    Journal of Aging and Environment
    1. Paula Carder
    2. Raina Croff
    3. Aliza Tuttle
    4. Juell Towns

  • Training the next generation of aging and cognitive health researchers

    Gerontology and Geriatrics Education
    1. Raina Croff
    2. Weizhou Tang
    3. Daniela B. Friedman
    4. Guilherme M. Balbim
    5. Basia Belza

  • Traversing the Aging Research and Health Equity Divide

    Gerontologist
    1. Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi
    2. Raina Croff
    3. Crystal M. Glover
    4. Jonathan D. Jackson
    5. Jason Resendez
    6. Adriana Perez
    7. Megan Zuelsdorff
    8. Gina Green-Harris
    9. Jennifer J. Manly

  • Optimization of primary care among black Americans using patient portals

    Journal of medical Internet research
    1. Omar H. Ordaz
    2. Raina L. Croff
    3. La Troy D. Robinson
    4. Steven A. Shea
    5. Nicole P. Bowles

  • Whitest City in America

    Gerontologist
    1. Raina Croff
    2. Monique Hedmann
    3. Lisa L. Barnes

  • Perspective on the “African American participation in Alzheimer disease research

    Alzheimer's and Dementia
    1. Andrea Denny
    2. Marissa Streitz
    3. Kristin Stock
    4. Joyce E. Balls-Berry
    5. Lisa L. Barnes
    6. Goldie S. Byrd
    7. Raina Croff
    8. Sujuan Gao
    9. Crystal M. Glover
    10. Hugh C. Hendrie
    11. William T. Hu
    12. Jennifer J. Manly
    13. Krista L. Moulder
    14. Susan Stark
    15. Stephen B. Thomas
    16. Rachel Whitmer
    17. Roger Wong
    18. John C. Morris
    19. Jennifer H. Lingler

  • Results of a mindfulness intervention feasibility study among elder African American women

    Complementary Therapies in Medicine
    1. Jeffrey Proulx
    2. Raina Croff
    3. Michelle Hebert
    4. Barry Oken

  • Terms and Measures of Cognitive Health Associated With Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

    Research on Aging
    1. Kelly Quinn
    2. Christina E. Miyawaki
    3. Raina Croff
    4. Mia T. Vogel
    5. Basia Belza
    6. Anita M. Souza
    7. Minhui Liu
    8. Valerie J. Edwards
    9. Daniela B. Friedman

  • Overcoming Barriers to Adopting and Implementing Pharmacotherapy

    Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
    1. Raina Croff
    2. Kim Hoffman
    3. Kelly Alanis-Hirsch
    4. Jay Ford
    5. Dennis McCarty
    6. Laura Schmidt

  • Things Are Changing so Fast

    Gerontologist
    1. Raina L. Croff
    2. Phelps Witter
    3. Miya L. Walker
    4. Edline Francois
    5. Charlie Quinn
    6. Thomas C. Riley
    7. Nicole F. Sharma
    8. Jeffrey A. Kaye

  • Promoting adoption of medication for opioid and alcohol use disorders through system change

    Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
    1. James H. Ford
    2. Amanda J. Abraham
    3. Nicoleta Lupulescu-Mann
    4. Raina Croff
    5. Kim A. Hoffman
    6. Kelly Alanis-Hirsch
    7. Mady Chalk
    8. Laura Schmidt
    9. Dennis McCarty

  • Extended-Release Naltrexone

    Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
    1. Kelly Alanis-Hirsch
    2. Raina Croff
    3. James H. Ford
    4. Kim Johnson
    5. Mady Chalk
    6. Laura Schmidt
    7. Dennis McCarty

  • Alcohol Screening among Opioid Agonist Patients in a Primary Care Clinic and an Opioid Treatment Program

    Journal of psychoactive drugs
    1. Jan Klimas
    2. John Muench
    3. Katharina Wiest
    4. Raina Croff
    5. Traci Rieckman
    6. Dennis McCarty

  • Provider and state perspectives on implementing cultural-based models of care for American Indian and Alaska Native patients with substance use disorders

    Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
    1. Raina L. Croff
    2. Traci R. Rieckmann
    3. John Doug Spence