Patricia M. D’Antonio, BSPharm, MS, MBA, BCGP, is the Vice President of Policy and Professional Affairs for the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and a board-certified geriatric pharmacist. Ms. D’Antonio directs GSA’s policy initiatives and is responsible for developing relationships with organizations in the aging arena. She represents GSA on several policy coalitions and serves as co-chair for the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition, president of the board of Protecting Access to Pain Relief, and a member of the steering committee for several federally focused coalitions. Ms. D’Antonio is also the executive director for the National Center to Reframe Aging, the central hub to advance the long-term social change endeavor designed to improve the public’s understanding of what aging means and the many ways that older people contribute to our society. Before joining GSA, Trish was the executive director for the District of Columbia Board of Pharmacy and program manager for the Pharmaceutical Control Division, where she was responsible for the regulatory and policy development for the practice of pharmacy and safe handling of medications in the District.  She received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Duquesne University and her Master of Science in Health Finance and Master in Business Administration with a concentration in health care from Temple University. She completed a residency in administration and finance at The Philadelphia Geriatric Center.  

Tochukwu (TC) Jonathan Okolie is a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut, studying Human Development and Family Sciences, and specializing in adulthood, aging, and gerontology. He has a background in Social Work and a master’s degree in gerontology, and has been exposed to the dimensions of aging issues in Nigeria and globally. His research explores the social determinants of health in older age, with particular attention to rural-dwelling populations and unstably housed older adults. Tochukwu is a student-member of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and has presented findings from his co-authored research at the annual scientific meetings. He has also presented at other major international conferences, including the Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) and the Joint Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development. Through research, community engagement and advocacy, his goal is to contribute to the well-being of older adults in Nigeria and globally.
 

Cameron is a 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.

Sara J. Czaja, PhD, is the Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor of Medicine and Professor of Gerontology, the Director of the Center on Aging and Behavioral Research and the Center for the Study and Support of Caregivers in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is the PI of the NIA funded Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) and the Co-Director of the ENHANCE (Enhancing Neurocognitive Health, Abilities, Networks, & Community Engagement) Center, funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. She has extensive experience in both theoretical and applied research, and coordination and leadership of multi-site collaborations. Her research interests include aging and cognition, aging and technology, caregiving, behavioral intervention research, and functional assessment. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Gerontological Society of America.

Dr. Kelly McConnell is an Attending Psychologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her research examines rates of distress and the evaluation and implementation of psychological interventions to reduce distress in older adults with cancer and their caregivers. She also evaluates interventions to promote advance care planning in patients with advanced cancer. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and foundations. She is a Fellow of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society.

Dr. Smith earned a BS in Chemistry with honors from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2001 and his DMD from the UAB School of Dentistry in 2005. He spent his early career serving as a clinical dentist and Director of Dental Health for the Jefferson County Department of Health for over a decade; during this time, he earned his MPH in health care policy and organization from the UAB School of Public Health in 2010. In 2021, he joined UAB School Dentistry as full-time Assistant Professor and Director of Geriatric Dentistry, where—in addition to teaching and mentoring dental students and residents—he manages and coordinates external clinical rotations, community outreach, and oral health screenings. Dr. Smith is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry and provides direct patient care at the UAB 1917 Dental Clinic.

Ganesh M. Babulal, Ph.D., OTD, is a professor in the departments of Neurology and Quantitative Health Sciences at the Mayo Clinic, and director of The DRIVES Project and ARCHES laboratories. Dr. Babulal’s research program (1) characterizes functional changes in dementia using conventional biomarkers (structural and functional imaging, cerebrospinal fluid, plasma) and digital sensor-based markers, (2) develops precision AI models of decline using complex instrumental activities of daily living, (3) quantifies structural and social determinants of health across the life course to predicts disease risk in late life, and (4) assesses the impact of multidimensional deprivation in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs)on brain health and neurological diseases. Dr. Babulal’s work has been disseminated across eight book chapters and over 150 peer-reviewed research articles. His work centers population neuroscience and a syndemic framework to bridge gaps in health disparities in the United States and LMICs.

Katherine Freund, MA Public Policy, is the President and CEO of ITNAmerica. She served on the White House Conference on Aging, testified before the US Senate Special Committee on Aging, and serves on the Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Mobility of Older Persons and Individuals with Disabilities. In Maine, she serves on the Public Transit Advisory Council and the Governor’s Climate Council. Katherine is an Askoka Fellow. She was featured in the Wall Street Journal as one of “12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement” and on CNN’s “Breakthrough Women.” She received AARP’s Inspire Award, the Gerontological Society of America’s Maxwell Pollack Award, the Social Enterprise Alliance’s Leadership in Innovative Enterprise Ideas Award, the American Foundation for the Blind’s Access Award, the American Public Health Association’s Archstone Award, the Mather Institute’s Innovative Research in Aging Award and the Giraffe Award for sticking her neck out for the common good.

KJ Hansmann, MD, MPH, PhD (she/they) has been an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health since 2024. She is a family medicine doctor and health services researcher. Her research focuses on leveraging our understanding of social determinants of health to design and implement clinical care interventions that promote health equity across the life course. Through postdoctoral research training after completing her clinical residency in family medicine at the University of Wisconsin, she developed skills in statistical modeling and health equity research and content expertise in driving cessation. She now conducts mixed-methods research with a long-term goal of developing and implementing effective care pathways to support comprehensive dementia care in primary care.

Dr. Yang is a demographer, medical sociologist, and social statistician interested in population health, aging and the life course, and quantitative methodology. She has extensive expertise on the demography and social biology of aging and health and new statistical methodologies of cohort analysis for interdisciplinary population health sciences. Her recent NIA-funded research brought integrative biosocial theoretical perspectives to bear on the analysis of diverse forms of big health data (e.g., vital statistics, household surveys, clinical biomarkers, and administrative records) and revealed new knowledge about social disparities and underlying biological mechanisms in life course trajectories of chronic diseases of aging. Her current research focuses on innovative life course research designs and methodologies of complex coordinated analysis and integrative data analysis of multiple longitudinal cohort studies.

Roger A. Fielding, PhD, is a Senior Scientist with the Metabolism and Basic Biology of Aging Directive at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. He is also Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and the Associate Director of the Boston Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. Dr. Fielding is an internationally known researcher. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers(H-index 117). He has a strong record of extramural funding, including support from the NIH, USDA, foundations, and industry. In 2015, he received the Olof Johnell Science Award from the International Osteoporosis Foundation, and in 2021 he received the Herbert Fleisch Medal from the same organization. In 2024, he received the Excellence in Rehabilitation of Aging Persons Award from the Gerontological Society of America.

Dr. Stuart Phillips is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a member of the School of Medicine at McMaster University. He is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health. Dr. Phillips' work centers on the interaction of exercise/physical activity, aging, and nutrition in skeletal muscle and body composition. Dr. Phillips is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (FCAHS), the American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM), the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (FCSEP) and the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC).

Joy Bohyun Jang is an Assistant Research Scientist with the Monitoring the Future (MTF) program at the Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research, the University of Michigan. Her research examines human development and health from a life course perspective, with a focus on how early experiences are associated with long-term outcomes. Specifically, she studies how substance use during adolescence and young adulthood is associated with developmental milestones, disordered drug use, and health across adulthood. More recently, her work has expanded to investigate how exposure to broader structural/social environments, including residential segregation, neighborhood socioeconomic contexts, and education quality, is associated with healthy aging. She completed her PhD in Human Development and Family Science from the Ohio State University with interdisciplinary specialization in survey research and quantitative methodology. She is currently a co-investigator of the MTF Study and leads its outreach efforts, working to maximize the study’s impact.

Anubha Chawla is a top-ranked Computer Engineering graduate with an MBA who brings more than two decades of experience at the intersection of technology, strategy, and leadership. Throughout her career, including significant work in the pharmaceutical industry, she has built user-focused solutions, led high-performing teams, and helped people embrace digital innovation with confidence. Her work reflects a strong commitment to making technology practical, accessible, and meaningful for the people who use it. She is especially passionate about leveraging digital tools to enrich the lives of older adults, with a focus on supporting well-being, independence, and human connection. In both professional and community settings, she brings a thoughtful perspective on how innovation can meet real-world needs. Known for combining technical expertise with a people-centered approach, Anubha helps audiences understand how digital transformation can be both strategic and human. Outside of her professional work, family remains an important source of grounding and inspiration.

Pooja Kapoor is the founder and CEO of SeniorX.AI. SeniorX.AI has launched a first-of-its-kind Agentic AI workforce readiness solution that combines assessment, certification, and AI-guided learning. It equips both nonaffiliated independent and provider-affiliated home care professionals with the precise skills needed to deliver technology-enabled home care safely and effectively. She brings 25+ years of product management experience across startups and global technology companies including Cisco, Webex, and McAfee, with deep expertise in identifying emerging opportunities at the intersection of technology and human need. SeniorX was built from lived experience. As a caregiver for her grandmother, who went from bedridden to living healthily into her 90s, Pooja witnessed firsthand the transformative impact of skilled, attentive home care. Over 20+ years of direct volunteer work with older adults deepened that conviction: small, consistent human connections produce measurable change. She is serving on the CTA AI in Health Care Committee.

Dr. Katarina Friberg-Felsted is a professor in the University of Utah Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program and is the current co-convener of the Gerontological Society of America's Age Inclusivity in Higher Education interest group. Dr. Friberg-Felsted and colleagues pursued and received the University of Utah’s Age-Friendly University (AFU) designation the AFU Global Secretariat. Dr. Friberg-Felsted and colleagues were recently awarded one of two inaugural College of Nursing Excellence in Education (CON ExEd) grants to gauge age-friendliness in the College, create trainings, and apply for accreditation from the Academy in Gerontology Education Council (AGEC). In 2025, the Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program received AGEC accreditation, as one of six higher education institutions worldwide. Prior to this, Dr. Friberg-Felsted and Dr. Jackie Eaton (Co-PIs) received one of four national seed grants from the Gerontological Society of America’s Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, funded by AARP, to promote age inclusivity on campus and in the community.

Allyson S. Graf is an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Science at Northern Kentucky University. Much of Allyson’s work is in promotion of advancing age inclusivity on campus and in the community. She was integral to NKU joing the Age-Friendly University (AFU) Global Network in 2020, the first institution in Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati region. She served as the inaugural chair of the AFU campus coalition fostering collaborations with university and community partners. She also served as a board member of the Safe Aging Coalition of Northern Kentucky, which promotes aging in place through education and provision of medical equipment for low-income older adults. She is on the editorial boards for International Journal of Aging and Human Development and Journal of Intergenerational Relationships.

M. Aaron Guest (He/Him) is an interdisciplinary-trained social-environmental gerontologist and Assistant Professor of Aging at the Center for Innovation in Healthy and Resilient Aging at Arizona State University. Broadly, his scholarship seeks to advance optimal person-environment fit, creating conditions that support health, well-being, and quality of life across the aging process. Dr. Guest serves as Chair of the Secretariat of the Age-Friendly University Global Network, a global consortium of 150+ higher education institutions committed to promoting positive and healthy aging and enhancing the lives of older adults. He completed his PhD in Gerontology at the University of Kentucky and his Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work at the University of South Carolina. He lives in Phoenix, AZ, with his three cats.

Joann M. Montepare, PhD (Brandeis University), is Emerita Professor of Psychology at Lasell University and Faculty Fellow in the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. A lifespan social-developmental psychologist, her research focuses on social and personal perceptions of age. As former Director of the RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies, she developed the Talk of Ages framework, an innovative approach to integrating intergenerational learning across the curriculum. A leader in advancing age-inclusive campuses, she chairs GSA’s Age Inclusivity in Higher Education (AIHE) Workgroup and edits the AIHE Newsletter, as well as co-developed the Age Inclusivity Domains of Higher Education (AIDHE) model and associated Age-Friendly Inventory and Campus Climate Survey (ICCS). Dr. Montepare is a Fellow of GSA, AGHE, APA, and SESP and is recipient of the AGHE Clark Tibbitts Award for outstanding contributions to gerontology and higher education.

Nancy Morrow-Howell, MSW, Ph.D., is the Bettie Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor at Washington University. Her scholarship focuses on productive engagement in later life, specifically program and policies to optimally engage older adults in paid and unpaid work, including working, volunteering, and caregiving. Dr. Morrow-Howell is past president and fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. She is a member of the national advisory committee for its Reframing Aging initiative as well as the Age-Inclusive University Workgroup. She received the Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the Society for Social Work and Research as well as the Distinguished Faculty Award at Washington University. She was awarded the Maxwell A. Pollack Award for Contributions to Health Aging and the Barbara Berkman Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research, Practice or Policy, both from the Gerontological Society of America.

Katherina Terhune, PhD, LCSW, is a Professor and the MSW Program Director in the School of Social Work at Northern Kentucky University. She earned her PhD in Gerontology from the University of Kentucky, as well as a Master’s degree in Social Work. Her research specializations include the mental health impact of dementia caregiving, and gerontological literacy among college students. Dr. Terhune is one of the founding members and Chair of NKU's Age-Friendly University Coalition. She is an appointed member of the Ethics Committee for the National Association of Social Workers (Kentucky Chapter), a member of the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Society for Clinical Social Work, a member of the Education Resources Development Workgroup for the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, and is the former President of the Board of Directors for the National Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation.