Assistant Professor

Academia: I conduct collaborative research at the intersection of aging, health, and quality-of-life. Specifically, my research addresses three areas: 1) quality of life in psychosocial oncology across the continuum of cancer care (e.g., new diagnosis, advanced and terminal cancer, cancer survivorship, caregivers); 2) surrogate and proxy healthcare decision making for unrepresented, incapacitated adults; and 3) developing sustainable age-friendly cities and communities through community-based approaches. I am also interested in qualitative methods and the concept of liminality as a descriptor and its clinical application to late-stage cancer-directed treatment and other transitions. I teach courses in aging, health social work, and human behavior and the social environment.


Clinical Practice: Prior to her doctoral studies, I practiced as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the University of Florida & Shands academic hospital and clinics for 20 years and UTMB in Galveston, Texas for 2 years. During my last ten years of practice, I primarily worked with older oncology patients in an outpatient cancer clinic.


  • Ph.D. Social Work, Florida State University, 2011
  • MSW, Social Work (Health Care Concentration), Louisiana State University, 1987
  • B.A., Mathematics, University of New Orleans, 1984

Link to Research Profile
E-Mail: gailadorno@uta.edu

Collections in this community