Karen Kopera-Frye, professor of public health sciences at New Mexico State University, has been appointed to a four-year term as editor-in-chief of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education. Dr. Kopera-Frye first joined the NMSU faculty in 2016 as associate dean for what is now the College of Health, Education, and Social Transformation. As a scholar, she focuses her work on health promotion and healthy aging among diverse groups, particularly Indigenous and Latinx elders.
“I am honored to serve and follow some of the giants in the field of gerontology who have served in this role prior,” said Dr. Kopera-Frye. “I hope to expand the journal space for submissions from postdocs and early-career academics. I want to increase the continued excellence in the number of submissions, solicit more international submissions, expand the opportunities for brief reports, and especially solicit submissions from those working with diverse groups and interprofessional education.”
Dr. Kopera-Frye received her master’s degree and doctorate in developmental and clinical psychology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from New Mexico State University.
Jessica Maddox, associate professor of entertainment and media studies at the University of Georgia, is the inaugural editor-in-chief of Creator and Influencer Studies, a new open access journal published by Springer Nature. As a scholar, she specializes in pop culture and labor on social media. She is the author of The Internet Is for Cats: How Animal Images Shape Our Digital Lives (Rutgers University Press, 2023) and the forthcoming Anatomy of an Internet Scandal: Content Creators and the Politics of Going Viral (University of California Press).
“Around the world, there is so much research happening into content creators, influencers, and live streamers,” said Dr. Maddox. “How we consume entertainment and information has radically changed, and having a journal devoted to making sense of this is so important.”
Dr. Maddox holds a bachelor’s degree in English and sociology, a master’s degree in mass media arts, and a Ph.D. in mass communication, all from the University of Georgia.


