Study Advisory Committee

 
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Christopher M. Callahan, MD, MACP

Indiana University Center for Aging Research

Christopher M. Callahan, MD, MACP is the Cornelius and Yvonne Pettinga Professor of Aging Research at Indiana University. His clinical practice at Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis focuses on the care of older adults with depression and dementia. He is a Scientist in the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Dr. Callahan is the founding Director of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research, now in its 21st year of operation with twelve faculty scientists & over $10 million in funding annually. Dr. Callahan conducts observational & interventional research to improve the care of older adults with dementia & depression in primary care settings. He continues to study new approaches to implement care models into routine clinical practice. He received the Midcareer Research Mentorship Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine in 2006 and the Edward Henderson Award from the American Geriatrics Society in 2016. In 2017, he accepted the role of Chief Research & Development Officer at Eskenazi Health, one of America’s largest essential health care systems.

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Katie Maslow

Gerontological Society of America

Katie Maslow is a visiting scholar at the Gerontological Society of America. The primary focus of her work is care-related issues for older people with cognitive impairment, dementia, and co-existing medical conditions. She was co-chair of the October 2017 National Research Summit on Care, Services and Supports for Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers. Before joining the GSA in 2016, Katie was a scholar-in-residence at the Institute of Medicine (IOM), National Academies of Science, in Washington DC, where she worked on studies of geriatric mental health, cognitive aging, and advanced dementia. She previously conducted policy-related research and analysis on the same issues for the Alzheimer's Association and the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment.

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Alice Bonner, PhD, RN, FAAN

Secretary of Elder Affairs

Alice Bonner, Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, has been a geriatric nurse practitioner caring for older adults and their families for over 28 years. From 2009-2011, Dr. Bonner was the Director of the Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality, at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. From 2011 to 2013, she served as Director of the Division of Nursing Homes in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Bonner is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, Bouve College of Health Sciences and a Faculty Associate in the Center for Health Policy at Northeastern University. Her research interests include quality and safety in health care systems and community-based settings; elder abuse; falls prevention; improving dementia care and reducing unnecessary antipsychotic medication use; and improving care transitions.

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Brenda Nicholson, MD

Dr. Brenda Nicholson was an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University and served as the Director of the Clinical Breast Cancer Program. After leaving academics, she was a partner in Tennessee Cancer Specialists, a large community based oncology practice in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2014, she stopped practicing medicine because of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Since that time, she has been involved with Alzheimer’s Tennessee, founded the St. Joseph’s Caregiver Ministry, and served as a member of the Stakeholder Group for Individuals Living with Dementia for the 2017 NIH Research Summit on Dementia Care.

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Caroline Stephens, RN, PhD, GNP

University of California, San Francisco

Dr. Caroline Stephens is an Associate Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing, Associate Director of UCSF’s Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence and Chair of the National Geropsychiatric Nursing Collaborative. Her current program of research focuses on vulnerable populations at high risk for poor care transitions, particularly among those with cognitive impairment and unmet palliative care needs. She has been involved with multidisciplinary geriatric clinical research for 20+ years, having worked on randomized clinical trials, mixed-methods studies, community-based research, as well as large dataset analyses, employing diverse advanced quantitative research methods. Dr. Stephens’ program of research has also been informed by her 15+ years of clinical experience as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner and Geropsychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse. She received her BSN, MSN and post-Master’s from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD in Gerontological Nursing & Health Policy from the UCSF.

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Debra L. Cherry, PhD

Alzheimer’s of Los Angeles

Debra Cherry is a clinical psychologist and the Executive Vice President of Alzheimer's Los Angeles where her responsibilities include foundation, government and medical relations.  Dr. Cherry has participated in the creation of award-winning programs to increase access to care by ethnically diverse families and on innovative strategies for improving healthcare for people with dementia. Dr. Cherry sits on the National Alzheimer’s Project Act Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services, which advises federal entities on implementation of the national Alzheimer’s Plan and she is a member of California’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Committee.  She is a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Caregiving Award which recognizes “an individual for leadership and innovation in caregiving.”

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Douglas D. Pace, NHA

Alzheimer’s Association

Doug Pace is the Director of Mission Partnerships with the Alzheimer's Association.  In this role, he provides strategic leadership with government and other organizations to enhance the Association’s influence in the area of dementia care across the continuum of long-term services and supports.  He was the co-lead on the Association’s recently released Dementia Care Practice Recommendations.  Previously, Doug was the Executive Director of the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Home Campaign, a national campaign to improve the quality of life and quality of care for the country’s 1.5 million nursing home residents.  He has over 20 years’ experience at the state and national level as a leader in advancing quality person-centered care in long-term care and community based settings and is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator who ran a 210 bed multi-level facility including a SNF, NF, a secured Alzheimer’s unit and assisted living.

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Ian Kremer, Esq.

LEAD Coalition

Ian Kremer, JD, is Executive Director of the LEAD Coalition (Leaders Engaged on AlzheimeDisease), unifying more than 90 local, state, national, and multinational organizations committed to stopping Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, including vascular and Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal degeneration. The coalition works collaboratively to focus the nation's strategic attention on accelerating transformational progress in quality of life for persons with dementia and their caregivers; detection and diagnosis; and research leading to prevention, effective treatment, and eventual cures. Ian holds degrees from Washington University and the University of Michigan School of Law and has worked on dementia policy since 1996.

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Nancy E. Gibbs, MD

Kaiser Permanente

Nancy is a Geriatrician and Palliative Care physician who currently is a partner per diem of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group for which she has been a partner for 25 years. For 12 of those years, Nancy was the Regional physician coordinator of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine for Southern California Kaiser Permanente. Professionally, Nancy is interested in improving systems of care for older adults and those at end of life. She has been actively involved in Physicians for Social Responsibility in Los Angeles for a number of years. The group works on providing education and advocates for peace, security, and environmental justice. For fun Nancy enjoys golf, tennis and pickle ball, as well as reading and spending time with friends and family.

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Ron Hendler, MPA

Caregiver

Ron holds a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in Hospital Administration and Public Health Policy. His career included Administering a Community Health Center, C.O.O. Of Clifton T. Perkins Behavioral Health Hospital and C.E.O. of Crownsville Behavioral Health Hospital. Ron was also Senior Program Administrator for community programs for the Maryland Mental Hygiene Administration. He retired from the State of Maryland service and worked as a Technical Director of Long Term Programs for CMS, Medicaid Disabled and Elderly Health programs, Division of Advocacy and Special Initiatives. Currently, Ron is the caregiver for his wife Mary, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 60. They have struggled with the disease and her care both in the home and out of the home for eleven years.  She now resides in Assisted Living Dementia Care here in the Baltimore area.

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Shari Ling, MD

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Dr. Shari M. Ling currently serves as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), & Medical Officer in the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ).  She assists the CMS Chief Medical Officer in the Agency’s pursuit of: empowering patients & doctors to make decisions about their health care, ushering in a new era of state flexibility & local leadership, supports innovative approaches to improve quality, accessibility and affordability and improving the CMS customer experience. Dr. Ling’s committed focus is on the achievement of meaningful health outcomes for patients & families through the delivery of high quality, person-centered care, across all care settings.  Her leadership of the Agency’s clinician engagement efforts are a part of this. Her clinical focus and scientific interest is in the care of persons with dementia, multiple chronic conditions, & functional limitations. Dr. Ling earned a Master’s in Gerontology in Direct Service at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, an MD degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine, completed a rheumatology fellowship at Georgetown University Hospital followed by a Geriatric Medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Nancy Wilson

Nancy is a gerontological social worker with over four decades of professional work and leadership in advancing interdisciplinary models of integrated community-based service delivery to elders and families coping with chronic illness including depression, dementia and anxiety. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine-Section of Geriatrics and the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine. As a collaborating investigator she has spearheaded academic community partnership projects through multiple funders including Partners in Dementia Care (VA, RWJ & Alzheimer’s Association) , Calmer Life (PCORI), and Texas Takes on Dementia (ACL).