University of Cologne

H3 Kontakt zum Thema

Raum 1.23

Universitätsstr. 91
50931 Köln

Telefon 0221 / 470 - 4786
Fax 0221 / 470 - 3793
E-Mail susanne.zank(at)uni-koeln.de
Sprechstunde Dienstags von 16.00 bis 17.00 Uhr.

Bitte melden Sie sich vorab telefonisch unter 0221/470-4786 oder per E-Mail an ute.zillken@uni-koeln.de bei Frau Zillken an.

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After completing her studies in psychology at the TU Berlin and in Vancouver, Canada, Professor Susanne Zank worked as a research assistant, assistant, and senior assistant at both the TU and FU Berlin. Additionally, she practiced as a licensed psychological psychotherapist in the gerontopsychiatric day care and outpatient clinic at the University Hospital of the FU Berlin. She obtained her habilitation in the field of psychology at the FU Berlin. In 2006, she took over the chair of Clinical Psychology at the University of Siegen.

Since October 2010, Susanne Zank has been the head of the Chair of Rehabilitative Gerontology at the University of Cologne. She also serves as the director of the Center for Curative Gerontology. From 2013 to 2017, she was the research dean, and from 2017 to 2023, she was the dean of the Faculty of Human Sciences at the University of Cologne. From 2016 and 2020, she was the president of the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and from 2013 to 2023, she was the speaker of the interdisciplinary NRW Graduate School GROW. Since 2016, she has been the co-leader of interdisciplinary studies on well-being in advanced age at the Cologne Center for Ethics, Rights, Economics, and Social Sciences of Health. Lastly, she was elected as the Vice-Rector for Antidiscrimination and Equal Opportunity in 2023.

Her research focuses on the stress and intervention research on family caregivers of dementia patients, intervention and rehabilitation research on older people, and the evaluation of outpatient and inpatient care. Together with her team, she developed assessment tools for the burden of family caregivers (Berliner Inventar zur Angehörigenbelastung - Demenz, BIZA-D) and for screening depression (Depression in Old Age Scale - DIAS), which are applicable in both research and practical settings.

For her outstanding achievements, Professor Susanne Zank was awarded the “Grand Prize” of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics in 2024.

List of Publications

You can find the complete publication list of Professor Susanne Zank here.