Dr. Robert W. Turner II, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Education & Training:
B.A., James Madison University 1984
M.A., Queens College, City University of New York 2007
Ph.D., City University of New York 2010
Research & Expertise:
Dr. Turner is the lead researcher for the Brain Health & Aging Study. He’s an author, researcher, and former NFL player committed to serving his communities. He’s an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. He also holds a position as a Research Scientist in the Center for Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research at Duke University.
Dr. Turner is a health disparities researcher with ethnographic and mixed methods training. His current National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded K01 award examines psychosocial and neurocognitive risk and protective factors, accelerated cognitive aging & mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) among former NCAA Division I and former NFL athletes. This line of research encompasses understanding how traumatic injury, as an occupational hazard, hinders daily living and career planning over the life course. These are many of the same concerns faced by military personnel returning from war.
His book manuscript, Not For Long: The life and career of the NFL athlete (Oxford University Press, August 2018) is an ethnographic project that offers a descriptive analysis of the social world of NFL athletes based on the author’s personal experience as a former professional football player, interviews with current and former players, archived resources that discusses the socialization of young athletes, the relationship between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, and how athletes transition to life after football.