Zhiwei Hu, a doctoral student at UTMB's School of Public and Population Health, has been named a Jeane B. Kempner Scholar for the 2026-2027 academic year. The award, granted through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, funds a full year of dissertation research and advanced methodological training.
The fellowship runs from September 2026 through August 2027 and provides support equivalent to a standard graduate assistant salary and benefits. Zhiwei works under his faculty sponsors, Dr. Yong-Fang Kuo and Dr. Brian Downer, using national Medicare claims and linked survey data to study aging and end-of-life care.
His funded project centers on the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit, the yearly preventive visit available to older adults, and how that single point of routine care connects to depression recognition, advance care planning, and hospice use among people living with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The work extends the hospice research described in an earlier profile of his hospice research, moving toward a practical question about how preventive care can support earlier, more person-centered planning.
The award supports Zhiwei as he completes his doctorate and prepares for an independent research career in aging and palliative care.