Julie M. Zissimopoulos

Biography

Julie M. Zissimopoulos is a Professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. In addition to her faculty appointment, she is Senior Scholar, Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government. She serves as Principal Investigator and Director of USC’s Resource Center for Aging and Dementia Research (USC RCAD) and Center for Advancing Sociodemographic and Economic Study of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (CeASES ADRD), both focused on advancing research to reduce burden of AD/ADRD and funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

Dr. Zissimopoulos is currently leading a large project funded by the NIA to estimate annual costs of dementia in the Unites States. Other research areas include pharmaceutical treatment for chronic diseases and risk of dementia; racial and ethnic disparities in diagnosis and health care use; health effects of insurance benefit design and reimbursement models.

Dr. Zissimopoulos as a nationally recognized dementia researcher. She serves as Lead Editor, Health Policy and Caregiving Section, for Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. She has served on several National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine Committees focused on dementia research priorities and served as Summit Co-chair for the third triennial National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons with Dementia and their Care Partners/Caregivers. She received the USC Price High Impact Research Award in 2024 for her body of work on the impacts of dementia. Published research appeared in Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology, Journal of Gerontology Social Science, Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Journal of Health Economics and Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Her research on the economics of aging is disseminated through media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN, National Public Radio.

Dr. Zissimopoulos received her B.A. summa cum laude from Boston College, her M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Selected Publications

• Garland, H., Jacobson, M., Xu, S., Zissimopoulos, J. (2025). A scoping review of population-based dementia registries: advancing research, care, and policy. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 21(11). doi.org/10.1002/alz.70938
• Haye, S., Jacobson, M., & Zissimopoulos, J. (2025). Role of PCPs in diagnosing dementia in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 21(10). https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14559 
• Zissimopoulos, J., Thunell, J., Jacobson, M., Haye, S., Tysinger, B., Ferido, P., & Joyce, G. (2025). Real-world evidence of brexpiprazole use and 6-month mortality, hospitalization, and emergency department visits among persons with dementia. Neurology, 105(3).