- About
- Our Philosophy, Mission & Goals
- Message from the Dean
- Our Rankings
- Accreditation
- Faculty, Research & Funding
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Academic Departments
- Administrative Departments
- International Partnerships
- History
- Sim/Skills Lab Guidelines
- Directions, Maps, and Parking
- Enrollment Profile
- Health Science IT
- COVID Information
- Admissions
- Programs
- BSN Program
- BSN Honors
- Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN
- RN Options
- Master of Science in Nursing
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
- Dual DNP/PhD Program
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Online Graduate Programs
- Certificates
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate In Health Care Genetics
- School Nurse Certificate (online)
- Certificate Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
- Certificate Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP)
- Certificate: Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
- Nursing Education Certificate
- Nursing Informatics Certificate
- Certificate in Gerontology for Nurse Practitioners
- Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate
- MSN/DNP Program Minors
- Courses
- Certification Pass Rates and Retention Rates
- Graduate NCLEX Pass Rates
- Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Yearly Pass Rate
- Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Year
- Clinical Nurse Leader Year
- Clinical Nurse Specialist Year
- Family Nurse Practitioner Year
- Nurse Anesthetist Year
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioner - MSN Year
- Nurse-Midwife
- Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Year
- Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Year
- Students
- Faculty
- Research
- Institutional Research Training Grants
- Office of Research and Scholarship
- Nursing Research and Scholarship HUBS
- HUB for Excellence in Digital Health Research
- Genomics of Patient Outcomes HUB
- Sleep and Circadian Science Research Hub
- Nursing Health Services and Policy Research HUB
- Cancer Survivorship HUB
- Maternal/Perinatal and Reproductive Health Research Hub
- Aging and Gerontological Nursing Research HUB
- Nursing Education Research and Scholarship HUB
- Active Grants
- Undergraduate Research
- Continuing Ed
- Alumni
- News
- Events
Yurun Cai
PhD
Assistant Professor
Health & Community Systems
Profile
Dr. Cai’s research focus is aging, chronic musculoskeletal pain, accelerometer measured physical activity, mobility, and falls in community-dwelling older adults. She has led several projects exploring the mechanisms underlying the relationships between chronic pain, cognition, and falls. She was also involved in National Institute on Aging R01-funded research projects examining the associations of sensorimotor function with mobility, physical activity, and cognitive impairment. She also has experience in analyzing large-scale longitudinal datasets using SAS and Mplus software. Dr. Cai has demonstrated a record of productive research publications in aging research. Her ultimate research goal is to help older adults enhance mobility and cognition and maintain functional independence.
Dr. Cai earned her BSN from Peking University Health Science Center and PhD in Nursing – Population Health track from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2019. Her dissertation focused on the longitudinal association between chronic musculoskeletal pain and risk of injurious falls and circumstances of falls in older adults enrolled in the MOBILIZE Boston study. In 2021, Dr. Cai completed her 2-year postdoctoral training in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Cai has presented her research in national and international research conferences. She is a member of the Gerontological Society of America, Eastern Nursing Research Society, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She has served as a reviewer in several peer-reviewed journals (BMC Public Health, BMC Geriatrics, American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, etc.) and an abstract reviewer for the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America.
Scholarly Emphasis
aging, physical activity, mobility, cognitive impairment, and falls