Jess VanderWerf, a doctoral student in the School of Aging Studies, has been selected as the recipient of the 2025鈥�26 graduate assistantship at the USF Center for Hospice, Palliative Care, and End of Life Studies.
As part of her project, "Network of Cares," VanderWerf will interview certified nursing assistants from Suncoast Hospice of Empath Health about job satisfaction, stress, and burnout in relation to their integration into the network of patient care. Her faculty mentors for the project include Nik Lampe, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, and Lindsay Peterson, PhD, research assistant professor in the School of Aging Studies.
Before pursuing her PhD at USF, VanderWerf earned a Master of Science in Gerontology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, both from St. Cloud State University. Her research interests include environmental gerontology and aging-in-place within industrial gerontology; mental health, aging, and policy; and comparative aging processes across communities.