Dr. Suk-Young Kang is an associate professor in the Binghamton University Department of Social Work. His research includes mental health and social work gerontology as it relates to Asian immigrant older populations and social justice. His research also focuses on depression and family caregiver issues.

As a social worker in Chicago, Dr. Kang witnessed the impact of welfare reform on the lives of immigrants. These experiences included working with older populations in the public housing of Chicago North and serving as a program coordinator at the Korean American Senior Center at Chicago. After receiving his PhD from Columbia University in 2003, he accepted an assistant professor position at the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and then an assistant professor position in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington.

While he was a faculty member at Arizona State University, with the support of the John A. Hartford Foundation, he conducted a study of depression and health status among Chinese and Korean immigrant elders aged 65 and over in Arizona, in the first-ever study about depression and health status among elders within these ethnic groups in Arizona. After moving to Texas, with the support of the Hogg Foundation, he conducted a study to see the impact of financial crisis on the prevalence of depression among Korean immigrant elders in northern Texas. He continues to conduct research projects with older adults in the Binghamton University Department of Social Work.