Tamara Baker, PhD, FGSA, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Geriatrics and Gerontology Advisory Committee, the National Institutes of Health Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, and Editor-in-Chief of Ethnicity & Health. Among Dr. Baker’s activities with the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), she is a former GSA Secretary, served as Chair of the GSA Committee on Minority Issues in Gerontology, founder and co-convener of GSA’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Collaborative Interest Group, former Chair of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Section, and is the GSA Board of Directors Vice President Elect. Her background in gerontology, psychology, and biobehavioral health has evolved into an active research agenda focusing on health disparities/equity as well as understanding the behavioral and psychosocial predictors and outcomes of chronic pain and pain among older Black adults.

James C. Appleby, BSPharm, MPH, ScD (Hon), is the Chief Executive Officer of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The Society works to advance innovation in aging and disseminate information among scientists, clinicians, policy makers, and the public. He is leading the Society’s current initiative to “reframe aging” in America by fostering accurate narratives of aging to replace the outdated “conventional wisdom” that dominates public understanding. The 5,500-member Society is advancing major initiatives related to improving adult immunization rates, earlier detection of cognitive impairment, improving oral health, and demonstrating the impact of the longevity economy. Appleby is also currently serving a four-year term on the National Advisory Council on Aging after being appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and he additionally serves on the National Alliance for Caregiving Board of Directors. Prior to joining GSA, he had a 17-year career with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) where he served in a variety of roles before being appointed Chief Operating Officer. Before joining APhA, he was on faculty at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (PCPS). Appleby holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from PCPS and a master of Public Health degree from Temple University. He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Dr. Anna MacKay-Brandt is a clinical psychologist with specialized training in neuropsychology and geriatrics. She earned her PhD from Washington University in St. Louis, and completed her clinical internship at the Warren Alpert Brown Medical School. As a postdoctoral fellow with the Taub Institute at Columbia University, her research focused on cognitive and functional change associated with normative aging and interventional approaches to optimize cognition. She is a Research Scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research and directs the Brain Aging and Mental Health laboratory where she collaborates with a multidisciplinary team on open-science neuroimaging initiatives and translational applications of cognitive neuroscience. In private practice, she combines clinical neuropsychological assessment with emerging research to help clients optimize cognitive performance. Her current work explores the central autonomic nervous system's role in attention and self-regulation, aiming to develop personalized strategies that support cognitive health and functional performance across the lifespan.

Cal J. Halvorsen, PhD, MSW is gerontological social work researcher who focuses on the productive engagement of older adults, particularly through paid work, volunteering, and intergenerational initiatives. He is an associate professor at both the Brown School and Burksy School of Public Health, and the co-director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging, at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also a project lead and investigator within the Center for Work, Health, & Well-being at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a research affiliate within the Unit of Occupational Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Within GSA, Cal is the vice chair of the Social Research, Practice, and Policy section.

Dr. Ronit Elk, PhD., FAAHPM, is Professor in the Department of Medicine, Heersink School of Medicine, UAB. For the fifteen years she has been conducting NIH-funded studies using Community Based Participatory Research (CBRP) values. CBPR is a social justice approach, in which community members are equal partners in the entire research process. Using this approach, the first ever training program for clinicians in providing culturally and religiously concordant healthcare for older Southern African Americans with serious illness was developed by a southern African American community. Over 500 clinicians have been trained. With NIA funding, she is building a national program in which she and her team train and mentors professionals who focus on older adults, in CBPR, with the goal of increasing research and program development in which the voices of older adults are heard and their recommendations embraced.

Emily A. Greenfield, PhD, FGSA, is a Professor of Social Work at Rutgers University and Founding Director of the Rutgers Hub for Aging Collaboration. Her scholarship seeks to bolster community-centered approaches for advancing innovation and equity in social programs for long and healthy lives. Her work has helped to accelerate 21st-century models for aging in community, including age- and dementia-friendly community initiatives, housing-based supportive service programs, and the Village Movement. Hallmark features of her scholarship include fostering cross-sectoral partnerships and elevating the voices of grassroots leaders. She also champions aging within higher education, such as by launching the Hub for Aging Collaboration to amplify work on aging across disciplines and to bolster opportunities for enhanced social work training on aging and older adults.

Dr. Leach is an Assistant Professor of Research at the Institute of Gerontology, Co-Director of the Community Engagement Core at the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES), and Associate Center Director for Community Inclusion at the Center for Health Equity and Community Knowledge in Urban Populations (CHECK-UP) at Wayne State University. She is a health communication expert with more than 15 years of experience in community engagement and community-based participatory research processes, with extensive experience conducting collaborative research and evaluation. Her research aims are focused on addressing health inequities by co-developing community-responsive solutions derived from participatory processes that will improve the provision of health-related services and care. Her ultimate goal is to improve the flow of and access to health-protecting information to historically marginalized populations who need it most.

Isabell C. May, PhD directs the Entrepreneurship and Science Communication for Aging and Aging-Related Research (ESCAAR) program and the Certificate in Science Communication at the University of Maryland School of Graduate Studies, and she leads the UMB Writing Center. She specializes in inclusive, interdisciplinary science communication across audiences and sectors and serves as Co-PI on an NIH Fogarty R25 focused on research ethics education in Morocco. A faculty fellow with Teach Access and the National Federation of the Blind, she advances accessibility in higher education and regularly publishes on science communication pedagogy.

Dr. Nikki O. Tyson is a seasoned credentialed gerontologist, educator, and advocate dedicated to transforming how society understands and values aging. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master’s degree in Gerontology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Tyson completed a Doctor of Education (EdD) in Curriculum Studies at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Tyson also holds a National Association for Professional Gerontologists (NAPG) certification as a Credentialed Professional Gerontologist (CPG). Dr. Tyson has managed many programs serving older adults, including transportation services, affordable housing, congregate and home-delivered meals, and corporate education initiatives. She has delivered professional training across the southeastern United States as well as presentations at several national conferences. Driven by a passion for advocacy and education, Dr. Tyson founded Advocating Anti-Ageism and Educating Against Ageism, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, to combat age-based bias.

Bernadette Wright, PhD, joined Meals on Wheels America in May 2020. There, she leads research and data analyses to inform and advance the organization’s strategic work. She has over 25 years of experience helping organizations use research to understand and solve complex issues, primarily in aging and health. Before joining Meals on Wheels America, she was an independent consultant leading research projects for national non-profit organizations and universities. Before that, she was a consultant at The Lewin Group, providing research on aging and disability issues for federal agencies. She earned her PhD in Public Policy/Program Evaluation from the University of Maryland. In her free time, she enjoys long hikes and bird- and wildlife-watching.

Yuanjin Zhou is an assistant professor at the School of Social Work. Yuanjin Zhou received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Washington School of Social Work. Zhou’s research program focuses on characterizing both precarious and positive aspects of the caregiving process of older people with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Zhou’s work explores how these caregiving processes impact the health and well-being of both care partners and older people with ADRD. Furthermore, she explores how multilevel factors and mechanisms shape these caregiving processes. Through this formative research and the active involvement of community and clinical partners, Dr. Zhou’s work aims to develop and implement empowerment, health promotion, and preventive interventions for care partners and older people with ADRD in various care settings.

As an independent faculty member, Dr. Al-Naggar obtained a Certificate in Clinical and Translational Research and launched a human clinical trial testing gerotherapeutics for lower urinary tract symptoms (NCT06351683). Her research focuses on polyploid senescent bladder cells, translational studies of gerotherapeutics, and developing urinary biomarkers. Beyond research, she is deeply committed to geroscience education, serving as Co-I on several Geroscience R25 grants, developing curricula through the GET Network, and organizing annual workshops at major scientific conferences. She directs a geroscience course at UConn and has authored multiple geroscience education publications.

A national leader in gerontology, Howard Degenholtz specializes in long-term services and supports and home- and community-based services. He developed self-reported quality-of-life measures for nursing home residents and co-authored a seminal paper on the benefits of the Green House model. His research has shown that older adults using consumer-directed personal care are not at increased risk of hospitalization, and he led a randomized trial demonstrating improved quality of life through tailored, individualized care planning. He has also studied end-of-life care in community and nursing home settings, examining advance directives and racial and ethnic disparities, with findings showing that older adults with advance care plans are less likely to experience terminal hospitalization. In organ and tissue donation, he developed and tested approaches to incorporate donor designation into primary care and implemented web-based training in driver’s license centers through randomized trials. He also hosts and produces The Gerontologist Podcast, published by the Gerontological Society of America and available on major podcast platforms.

Cal J. Halvorsen, PhD, MSW is gerontological social work researcher who focuses on the productive engagement of older adults, particularly through paid work, volunteering, and intergenerational initiatives. He is an associate professor at both the Brown School and Burksy School of Public Health, and the co-director of the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging, at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also a project lead and investigator within the Center for Work, Health, & Well-being at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a research affiliate within the Unit of Occupational Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Within GSA, Cal is the vice chair of the Social Research, Practice, and Policy section.

Dr. Alyssa Gamaldo is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clemson University and affiliated with the Institute for Engaged Aging. Her current research concentrates on social determinants of health and well-being in older adult populations, particularly within populations at risk for dementia. Her research has also focused on identifying sensitive measures for detecting health risks. Dr. Gamaldo serves as the Deputy Editor of The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences.

Rodlescia Sneed is a social gerontologist whose work focuses on how social environments shape adult development and aging among historically marginalized midlife and older adult populations. Their research uses a multilevel approach to examine how individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy factors influence health outcomes. They also collaborate with community and institutional stakeholders to address gaps that contribute to inequities in health and well-being.

Dr. Regina Wright is a psychologist and professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Delaware. Her program of research is focused on cardiovascular, psychosocial, and environmental predictors of cognitive function and decline, with a specific focus on patterns of association in African Americans. Most recently, Dr. Wright has examined neighborhood disadvantage and cognitive function among older adults, including potential mediating and moderating influences on this relationship.

Dr. Samuele Zilioli is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Family Medicine & Public Health Sciences at Wayne State University. He completed his B.A. and M.A. in Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Italy and earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Sciences from Simon Fraser University in Canada, where he received the Governor General’s Gold Medal for highest academic standing. He later completed a postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology at Wayne State. Dr. Zilioli’s research examines how psychosocial stressors, especially those tied to socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity, interact with psychosocial resources to influence glucocorticoid-related processes and, in turn, immune, cardiovascular, metabolic, and other health outcomes across the lifespan. His work has been funded by the National Institute of Justice and is currently supported by the National Institutes of Health. He has received several honors recognizing his contributions to biobehavioral health research.

Jordana Breton is a fourth-year doctoral candidate studying Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Neuropsychology at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA). She graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She worked at the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program (HNRP) as a bilingual research psychometrist before attending UTA. She is interested in examining the role socioeconomic and sociocultural factors may have on stress, stress-related diseases, and cognition. She hopes to create valuable research and tools geared towards minimizing cognitive health disparities in underserved/underprivileged communities.

Jinshil Hyun, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her research focuses on identifying modifiable determinants of cognitive aging and dementia, with an emphasis on how neighborhood and contextual factors interact with psychosocial and behavioral processes to shape cognitive health across multiple time scales (e.g., momentary, daily, and longitudinal). She is the Principal Investigator of two funded projects: a National Institute on Aging K99/R00 award (K99/R00AG080126), “Neighborhood Characteristics, GPS-Based Activity Space, and Cognitive Health,” and an Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship (23AARF-1020416), “Pathways Linking Neighborhood and Behavioral Factors to the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD).” Her work leverages digital technologies, including smartphone-based ambulatory cognitive assessments, to capture real-world experiences and environmental exposures that influence cognitive health in later life.

Dr. Kamis is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research explores early life predictors of life course mental health, with recent publications focusing on the long-term impacts of childhood adversity. A separate but related stream of research examines how contexts (e.g., neighborhoods, counties, states) influence health and mental health disparities more broadly.

Dr. Ye is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work and the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her research focuses on how social, structural, and environmental contexts shape health outcomes in vulnerable aging populations, with a particular interest in sleep disturbance and dementia care. Dr. Ye’s work integrates interdisciplinary approaches from sociology, health services research, and data science to identify modifiable determinants of health and inform evidence-based interventions for older adults living in community and long-term care settings.

Federica Previtali, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher with the ERC LEGACIES project at the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Social Sciences. She earned her PhD in Social Psychology from Tampere University, where her research focused on age, aging, and ageism in workplace practices and interactions. Her current work explores intergenerational dynamics in the context of climate change, population aging, and social inequality, with a focus on how these issues are experienced and negotiated across family and societal generations in Italy.

Taylor Brown (he/him) is a PhD Candidate in Social Welfare and Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. His research examines how welfare states shape climate adaptation and inequality, with a focus on ecosocial policy at the intersection of social welfare and environmental systems. His work combines econometrics, computational social science, and critical text analysis. Taylor also serves as a Research Associate and Adjunct Professor with Tulane University’s CEDR/DRLA and is the founding CEO of the Center for Ecosocial Policy.

Kate Fletcher serves as Wildfire Resilience Program Coordinator at CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort), a global humanitarian organization focused on disaster response and long-term recovery solutions for underserved communities worldwide.

Dr. Ajit Singh Mann is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Science at Loyola Marymount University. His research explores pro-environmental behavior in older adulthood and the role of flow experiences in aging well. Trained in positive developmental psychology, he specializes in intensive longitudinal methods, including Experience Sampling Methodology and multilevel modeling, and has published in both developmental and positive psychology journals.

Dr. Perone is the Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services and an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare. She is a licensed attorney and interdisciplinary scholar. Prior to her current role, she previously served as a senior health policy fellow at the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She also practiced law for nearly ten years and served as the Executive Director for a community-based nonprofit serving LGBTQIA+ older adults in the United States. Her research examines equitable aging, including intersections in long-term care, LGBTQIA+ aging, and health policy.

Leixuri Urrutia-Pujana specializes in analyzing policies, regulations, and legal rulings to assess their impact on the human rights of minorities and vulnerable populations. Her work focuses on ensuring social service frameworks effectively protect and meet the needs of marginalized communities.

Anne Blumenthal is a doctoral candidate in the Joint Program in Social Work & Sociology at University of Michigan. In her research, she uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches to answer questions related to structural processes and determinants of child well-being. Her work has been published in the journals Child Welfare, Children and Youth Services Review, Child Indicators Research and Qualitative Social Work, among other outlets. The overarching motivation for her research is to inform policy conversations on concrete supports for marginalized families.

Dr. Hu is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Demography of Aging, Disability and Care Program within the Survey Research Center. She received her Ph.D. in Survey Methodology at the University of Michigan in 2018. Her current research interests include the identification and reduction of measurement errors in cross-cultural surveys, survey non-response, longitudinal survey data analysis, methodological issues in surveys with older populations, and the use of machine learning in survey research. Dr. Hu is currently collaborating with the National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving as a co-Investigator to enhance user outreach and evaluate new data collection designs.

Dr. Sarah E. Patterson is a Demographer and Sociologist. Currently, she is a Research Assistant Professor at the Survey Research Center and a Faculty Affiliate at the Population Studies Center, both at the University of Michigan. She is working on projects related to families, aging, and caregiving. More broadly, her research addresses whether and how social norms influence attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes related to the family. Her research falls into the following three domains: the demography of aging and the life course; family demography and intergenerational inequality; and, gender inequality at the work/family nexus.

Maureen E. Skehan, MSPH, is a research associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She documents and disseminates research data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC). She is also responsible for oversight of operational and administrative aspects of of the National Health and Aging Trends Study funded by the National Institute on Aging. Ms. Skehan received her master of science in public health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Cameron is a third-year PhD student in the School of Nursing with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work focuses on improving long-term care for older adults with dementia through implementation research and she also has a strong interest in health policy that affects America's older adult population. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC with her husband Marcus, chihuahua, and two cats, and spends her time sewing and exploring the outdoors.

Annalee Wilson is the Evaluation and Workforce Training Manager at the Center for Aging & Disability Education & Research (CADER) at the Boston University School of Social Work. At CADER, Annalee develops curriculum and training programs for professionals who work with older adults and people with disabilities at state and community-based agencies, including case managers, social workers, and ADRC staff. She writes evaluation reports for CADER's training initiatives and manages CADER's grant funded projects. Annalee earned her MPH from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, where she focused her studies on aging.

Katherine C. Britt, PhD, MSN, RN, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. A registered nurse with clinical experience caring for older adults and families affected by cognitive impairment, Dr. Britt earned her PhD from The University of Texas at Austin and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. A 2024 NIA Butler-Williams Scholar, her scholarship spans three interconnected areas: (1) spirituality and cognitive health as modifiable coping, resilience, and lifestyle resources; (2) cognitive care planning and innovations to improve communication and coordination in dementia care; and (3) digital and AI-enabled tools to reduce clinical burden and support families at home. Her work is funded by the NIH/NIA, Stanford Aging Pilot Program, and a2collective. She serves as GSA Vice Chair of ESPO and is an editorial board member of Geriatric Nursing and the Alzheimer’s Association Iowa Chapter.

Dr. Emerald Jenkins holds dual doctoral degrees as a PhD and DNP from Johns Hopkins, with a history of pre- and postdoctoral NIH funding. As a caregiver and Clinician Scientist focused on physical and mental health outcomes and mixed-methods approaches using a health equity lens, Dr. Jenkins is currently a Program Officer in Clinical Comparative Effectiveness Research and an Adult Gero Primary Care Provider. As a Program Officer, Dr. Jenkins is at the nexus of scientific oversight, development of funding announcements, and program evaluation, leveraging her unique clinical and research-based expertise.

Sheldon Oliver Watts serves as a senior program officer in the Research, Evaluation, Learning (REL) unit at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where he leverages both his academic and community experiences. In his role, he collaborates with grantees and partners to imagine and cultivate conditions for creating meaningful change, recognizing that collective action amplifies impact and accountability. His efforts focus on generating equitable evidence, dissemination strategies, and expanded participation in actionable research. Sheldon actively promotes increasing diversity among health equity researchers to provide a more comprehensive understanding of health disparities and their solutions. These diverse perspectives contribute valuable insights for decision-makers, shaping policies, programs, and practices aimed at dismantling structural barriers to health. This work underscores the importance of historical and cultural context as critical factors in addressing structural barriers to health and a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

Dr. Sarah Canham is a Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Utah, where she also serves as the Associate Director of the Health Interprofessional Education program. She earned her master's in applied sociology and doctorate in gerontology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her community-based research focuses on homelessness, access to health and social services, and aging, collaborating with providers, clinicians, and individuals with lived experience.

Benjamin Henwood, PhD, LCSW, is the Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health at the University of Southern California (USC). He directs the Homelessness Policy Research Institute, a joint initiative of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. Trained as a clinical social worker and researcher, Dr. Henwood specializes in health and housing services research, with a focus on linking clinical interventions to social policy. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Google.org, which recently supported his research on guaranteed basic income for people experiencing homelessness. Since 2017, he has served as methodological lead for the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, the largest unsheltered count in the United States.

Rebecca Brown, MD, MPH is a geriatrician and an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and a core investigator at the Center for Health Evaluation and Research Promotion at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center. Her research focuses on improving functional status and quality of life for vulnerable older populations, including older adults with experiences of homelessness.

Lara Nixon is an academic family physician and associate professor at the University of Calgary. She has worked clinically with adults experiencing structural vulnerability since 2001. Her research focuses on models of care to promote connection, well-being, and equity, using participatory approaches with older people experiencing homelessness and other community partners, including carers and system planners.

Jared N. Schachner is a Research Scientist at the USC Price School of Public Policy, affiliated with the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and the Homelessness Policy Research Institute. He previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago’s Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation and earned his PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University, where he was a JCHS Meyer Fellow. His research examines how transformations in urban social infrastructure reshape racial and socioeconomic inequalities. Recent studies focus on the equity implications of one such transformation -- Housing First service expansion -- in Los Angeles County. He is currently partnering with the county to lead a HUD-funded youth needs assessment that integrates administrative data (e.g., HMIS) with an original survey of young people who have experienced homelessness. The project aims to identify key assets—within and beyond the homelessness services system—that support housing stability throughout young adulthood.

Sarah Dys, PhD, MPA, is a senior research associate at the Institute on Aging at Portland State University with expertise in assisted living, residential care, and memory care communities and resident population health and outcomes. She is an early career member of the Gerontology Society of America, where she has served in leadership roles within the Social Research, Policy, and Practice member section. Dr. Dys earned her doctorate in Community Health from the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health with a specialization in gerontology. Her professional vision is to center aging in public health discourse, particularly at the intersection of housing, health, and social services provision. She specializes in weaving together quantitative and qualitative methods to tell stories that highlight the voices of those who live and work in long-term services and support (LTSS).

Prof. Dr. Yasemin Afacan received her BArch and MS from Middle East Technical University and her PhD from Bilkent University in 2008. She worked at Queen's University Belfast before joining Bilkent in 2010, where she is dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, and faculty member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Her research focuses on neuro-architecture, indoor environmental quality and environmental gerontechnology. She has written over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Her research has received sponsorship from many organizations, including Driving Urban Transitions – Urban Europe (EU), The European Research Executive Agency (ERA), Centre for Aging and Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI), The DAIWA Anglo-Japanese Foundation, and TUBITAK (TUR). She received the Outstanding Young Scientist Awards; BAGEP (2017), GEBIP (2018). She teaches sustainable interior design and has served on the board of the International Society of Gerontechnology (ISG) since 2014. She is also Vice-President of ISG Turkey Chapter.

Dr. Rahul Malhotra is the Executive Director of the Centre for Ageing Research & Education (CARE) and Associate Professor of Health Services Research & Population Health at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. The primary area of his research is ageing, at the individual and population level. Key projects that he has led/is leading include (1) national longitudinal surveys of older Singaporeans, studying predictors and outcomes of change in physical, psychological and social health of older adults, (2) longitudinal quantitative and qualitative studies of older Singaporean-family caregiver dyads, assessing patterns, correlates and consequences of changes in caregiving-related outcomes over time, and (3) a health services research project on older person-centred prescription medication labels. He has published over 240 peer-reviewed papers in the medical, public health and social science literature. He received his basic and advanced medical training at the University of Delhi, India, and public health (MPH) training at Harvard University, USA.

Birgit Pianosi, PhD, CPG, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Laurentian University, where her work focuses on gerontology, aging, and the well-being of older adults. A Credentialed Professional Gerontologist, she brings an interdisciplinary perspective to teaching, research, and community engagement in the field of aging. Dr. Pianosi’s scholarship and professional interests include dementia care, age-friendly communities, caregiving, and strategies that promote quality of life for older adults and their families. She is also recognized for her work in education and training that helps prepare future professionals to meet the evolving needs of aging populations. An experienced educator and advocate for aging-related issues, Dr. Pianosi is committed to advancing practical, person-centered approaches that support healthy aging, dignity, and inclusion across care and community settings. 

Dr. Innocent Tesha is a Medical Officer at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania, currently a master’s candidate in Geriatrics Medicine at Jinzhou Medical University, leading AI-driven research on cardiovascular aging. He holds an MD from Hubert Kariuki Memorial University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Cardiology from the University of Buckingham. His work merges machine learning, clinical epidemiology, Chronic diseases in aging to develop equitable cardiovascular risk-prediction tools for frail older adults in low-resource settings. His research has been published in The Gerontologist, The Lancet Regional Health – Africa, and Frontiers in Aging. Recognized with the 2nd Best Innovator Award at a national digital health forum, Dr. Tesha is An active member of the Gerontology Society of America, his vision is to advance gerontology through scalable, data-driven solutions that improve cardiovascular care and population health outcomes across Africa and beyond.