About

Jaewon Lee is an Adjunct Associate Professor affiliated with the John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts at USC Cinematic Arts. He is also a Modeling Supervisor at DreamWorks Animation with two decades of experience creating characters and environments for numerous films including Kung Fu Panda 1 & 4, Puss in Boots 2, Boss Baby 1 & 2, Abominable, How to Train Your Dragon 2 & 3, Trolls, Home, The Croods, Shrek Forever After, and Monsters vs Aliens. He has published a book titled Exciting 3D Maya Character Modeling, demonstrating his expertise in 3D character modeling.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Gerontology
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Internal medicine
• Demography
• Environmental health
• Geography
• Data Mining
• Pathology
• Medical education
• Physical therapy
• Nursing
• Obstetrics
• Psychology
• Pediatrics
• Economic growth
• Economics
• Psychiatry
• Demographic economics

Selected publications

• Gateway Harmonized TILDA, Version C

  Open MIND · 2026-01-28

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  OA PDFDOI

• Gateway Harmonized TILDA COVID, Version A

  Open MIND · 2026-01-28

  datasetOpen accessSenior author
  OA PDFDOI

• Epigenetic aging and blood based neurodegeneration markers in LASI-DAD

  The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer s Disease · 2026-05-14

  articleOpen access

  DNA methylation (DNAm)-based epigenetic clocks are emerging biomarkers of biological aging and have been linked to cognitive decline and dementia, but their relationship with blood-based neurodegenerative biomarkers remains understudied in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Using the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD), we examined whether epigenetic aging was associated with levels and changes in neurodegenerative biomarkers among adults aged ≥60 years. Seven epigenetic clocks were derived from DNAm data and related to plasma levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light (NfL), phosphorylated tau 181 (pTau181), total tau, Amyloid-β (Aβ)42, Aβ40 and Aβ42/Aβ40 measured at two time points. Baseline accelerated epigenetic aging was associated with higher levels of neurodegenerative biomarkers, including pTau181, GFAP, and NfL, with more consistent associations with increases in GFAP and NfL for morbidity- and mortality-trained clocks. These findings support the utility of epigenetic clocks as scalable tools for identifying risk of neurodegeneration in LMIC settings.

  PublisherDOI

• Development of a food composition database for nutrient analysis of dietary intake in older Indians: the LASI-DAD Diet Study

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Indian‐enriched genetic variants are associated with cognitive function

  Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2026-01-29

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Little is known about genetic risk factors for dementia in South Asians. Examining genetic variants that occur at higher frequency in India compared to other ancestries (i.e., Indian enriched variants) may identify genetic associations with cognitive function that are potentially unique to the Indian population. METHODS: We examined whether 3.43 million variants enriched in India compared to European (EA), East Asian (EAS), and African (AFR) ancestries were associated with seven measures of cognitive function in 2680 older adults from the Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD). RESULTS: Identified Indian-enriched variants were largely near loci previously associated with neuropsychiatric traits, N-acetyltaurine levels, educational attainment, and cardiovascular risk factors for dementia. Several variants near genes previously associated with intellectual disabilities and synaptic function exhibited sex-specific effects. DISCUSSION: Indian-enriched variants may play a significant role in cognitive function in South Asians living in India. HIGHLIGHTS: Some cognitive function-associated variants are unique to, or more common in, India. Implicated genes were in cardiovascular, neurocognitive, and inflammatory pathways. Some Indian-enriched genetic variants demonstrate sex-specific effects.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• HbA1c alone might not reliably indicate India's diabetes prevalence – Authors' reply

  The Lancet Global Health · 2026-01-07

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Lovely Gupta and colleagues question the use of HbA1c in the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). We wish to make three points. First, we did not “concede … that HbA1c-only diagnosis is flawed”, and we disagree with the letter's suggestion that we did not meaningfully discuss HbA1c-related measurement issues. In our Discussion, we devoted a paragraph of 350 words, including 14 references, to the strengths and limitations of our use of HbA1c. We refer readers to this text. Additionally, allow us to clarify that HbA1c is largely unaffected by common haemoglobinopathies when measured by modern laboratory methods, such as the assay used in LASI.

  PublisherDOI

• Past, present and future perspectives on the science of aging

  Nature Aging · 2026-01-21 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mechanistic pathways between adult child education and late-life parental health outcomes: cross-national comparisons across the US, Mexico, and India

  Social Science & Medicine · 2026-03-27

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Socioeconomic and clinical predictors of all-cause mortality among older adults in India from 2017 to 2024: the importance of cognitive health and dementia

  The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2026-02-03

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Characterizing the correlates of adult mortality can lend insights into the factors associated with consequential health outcomes among older adults. In India, the importance of adult mortality has grown given trends in population aging, but prior research has been limited by a lack of high-quality longitudinal data. METHODS: We used new data from Waves 1 (2017-2019) and 2 (2022-2024) of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD) study (N = 3871) to evaluate associations between all-cause mortality and 27 socioeconomic and clinical factors using Cox proportional hazards models. We also evaluated gender differences and the impact of COVID-19. RESULTS: The estimated mortality rate was 6.0 (95% confidence intervals [95% CI]: 5.6-6.4) deaths per 100 person-years. A broad range of factors were associated with mortality, but cardiometabolic and cognitive phenotypes had some of the strongest -associations; those with dementia had a 2.84 (95% CI: 2.12-3.81) times greater risk of death than those with -normal -cognitive functioning. Associations with socioeconomic factors tended to be stronger for men than women (eg, wealth quintile; χ2 p = .046), whereas associations with clinical factors tended to be stronger for women than men (eg, diabetes; χ2 p = .033). We observed some evidence of excess mortality due to COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of health among older adults in India and illustrate the need for solutions that recognize the importance of a wide range of social factors and clinical health conditions. Results also showcase the importance of dementia as a key factor associated with survival among older adults.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Intrinsic capacity and survival among older adults in India: LASI-DAD study (wave 1 and wave 2)

  The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia · 2026-05-09

  articleOpen access

  Background: With increasing longevity, the focus of healthcare for older adults is shifting from a disease-centric model to a more holistic view of functional capacity. This study investigates the relationship between intrinsic capacity (IC)-a measure of combined physical and mental abilities-and survival among older adults in India. Methods: We analysed data from 4096 community-dwelling individuals aged 60 and older who participated in the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD). IC was evaluated across six domains: cognition, mood, nutrition, locomotion, vision, and hearing. An overall IC score was created by aggregating the z-scores from these domains. Cox Model was used to determine if IC was a predictor of mortality, adjusting for confounding factors. Findings: During the follow-up period, 951 participants (23.2%) died. A higher IC score was associated with a lower risk of death (Hazard Ratio (HR): 0.89; 95% CI: 0.86-0.91). The risk of mortality increased progressively with the number of impaired intrinsic capacity domains: participants with one impaired domain had a HR of 1.48 (95%CI 1.26-1.75); two impaired domains, HR: 2.10 (95%CI 1.67-2.65); three impaired domains, HR: 1.71 (95%CI 1.14-2.57); and four impaired domains, HR: 3.15 (95%CI 1.53-6.46). Of the six domains, cognition, nutrition, and locomotion were identified as the strongest predictors of survival. Vision impairment did not show a independent association with mortality. Interpretation: Older adults in India with higher overall intrinsic capacity-particularly better cognition, good nutrition, and better locomotor capacity-had a lower risk of death. These findings highlight the importance of looking at functional abilities, not just diseases, when planning health care and interventions for ageing populations. Funding: LASI-DAD is funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institutes of Health (R01 AG051125, U01AG064948).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (DAD) for Longitudinal Aging Study of India (LASI)-Genomic study.

  NIH · $12.5M · 2019–2026

• NIH Grant K01AG021531

  NIH · $622k · 2009

• Harmonizing Dementia Assessment in Korea: Study on Dynamics of the KLoSA MCI, Dementia & Labor Loss

  NIH · $698k · 2018–2021

• NIH Grant R21AG034443

  NIH · $392k · 2014

• Harmonization of Cross-National Studies of Aging to HRS--Renewal

  NIH · $2.2M · 2010–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Erik Meijer

  University of Southern California

  102 shared

• Kenneth M. Langa

  Health Services Research & Development

  59 shared

• Drystan Phillips

  57 shared

• David E. Bloom

  Harvard University

  47 shared

• Alden L. Gross

  Johns Hopkins University

  37 shared

• Aparajit Ballav Dey

  36 shared

• Sandy Chien

  University of Southern California

  35 shared

• Pranali Khobragade

  University of Southern California

  35 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  The Ohio State University