Gina McCaskill, PhD, MSW, MPA
Fellow in Advanced Geriatrics, Birmingham/Atlanta GRECC
Hartford/VA Social Work Scholar
Birmingham VAMC
Gina M. McCaskill, PhD, is a researcher in the field of Aging. She completed her doctoral
education in Social Work at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and minor coursework in
Gerontology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She earned a Master of Social
Work from Radford University, Radford, Virginia, and a Master of Public Administration in
Health Policy from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York
University, New York, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Antioch College, Yellow
Springs, Ohio. Currently, Dr. McCaskill is a VA Fellow in Advanced Geriatrics at the
Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) and a John A.
Hartford VA Geriatric Social Work Scholar at the Birmingham VA Medical Center in Alabama.
She has a voluntary faculty appointment as an adjunct instructor in the School of Medicine at
UAB, Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, and an
affiliation with the Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging at UAB. She is also a Deep South
Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research Scholar enrolled in the Health Disparities
Research Training Program, which is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging. Dr.
McCaskill has taught social work and has practice experience in geriatric mental health. In order
to promote quality of life among older adults with chronic health conditions, she is interested in
developing policies that will promote physical activity among community-dwelling older adults.
Dr. McCaskill is currently conducting a qualitative study about the facilitators and barriers to
physical activity among older veterans. As part of her GRECC clinical responsibilities, she
practices geriatric social work one day a week in the Geriatric Assessment Clinic at the
Birmingham VA Medical Center in Alabama.