Schafer completed his PhD in sociology and in gerontology at Purdue University in 2011. His research lies mainly in the area of health and aging. Some of the topics that interest him include adult health problems associated with childhood adversity, the association between health and social networks among older adults, the role of the physical environment in shaping older adults’ social connectedness and health, and the intersection of personal networks and religion. Schafer’s work on networks and health is funded by the Province of Ontario’s Early Research Award program and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He currently serves as an associate editor of Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences and on the editorial board of several other interdisciplinary journals.