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.  

Apoorva Rangan is pursuing a Doctor of Medicine and a master's degree in epidemiology and clinical research at Stanford School of Medicine. She aspires to a career working with researchers, community organizations, and older patients to improve quality and equity in geriatric care. Rangan has special interests in geriatrics workforce development, medical-legal collaborations supporting incarcerated older people, and long-term care systems. In 2019, she resided in an intergenerational nursing home in the Netherlands, which was a pivotal experience in her journey toward medicine. She graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and human developmental and regenerative biology. In her free time, she loves birding and yoga. 

Dr. Gebauer is a family physician and translational epidemiologist in Saint Louis University-School of Medicine's Department of Family & Community Medicine. Her research is focused on the integration of geospatial information science and administrative health record data with special interest in chronic pain and prescription opioid use. She focuses on the impact of place on health outcomes, such as communities and neighborhoods. Her medical practice is located in an FQHC look a like clinic, providing primary care to the underserved of St. Louis County.

Marcia G. Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a Regents and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M School of Public Health (SPH) in College Station, Texas. Working with interdisciplinary teams in the TAMU Board of Regents Center for Community Health and Aging (CCHA), her primary goal is to reframe healthy aging as the new normal through innovative research, education, and service. Dr. Ory is an international leader in translating research into practice through investigations of behavioral, social, environmental, policy, and/or technological solutions to enhance health and quality of life for all. She has a long-standing commitment to aging and public health research, with a particular interest in dementia research that focuses on both individuals living with dementia and their care partners.

Ashley Z. Ritter, PhD, MSHP, APRN is a nurse practitioner, researcher, and Assistant Professor at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing whose work centers on improving health outcomes for older adults with complex medical and social needs. Clinically trained in gerontology and palliative care, she has provided direct care in hospital, post-acute and community-based settings. Dr. Ritter’s research examines opioid use disorder (OUD) in aging populations, with multidisciplinary projects funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the CDC, and the Commonwealth Fund. Her studies focus on care transitions, disparities in access to OUD treatment, and integrating harm reduction into the continuum of aging services. Recognized for both scholarly and public engagement, Dr. Ritter is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and a founding member of Those Nerdy Girls, advancing evidence-based health communication.

Dr. Joy Alonzo, M. Engineering, PharmD, is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy and a nationally recognized expert in opioid crisis response and public health innovation. With a background in both pharmacotherapy and engineering systems design, Dr. Alonzo co-leads the Texas A&M Opioid Task Force and directs numerous interdisciplinary initiatives aimed at addressing substance use, health equity, and rural access to care. Her work integrates cutting-edge tools—such as geospatial analytics, telehealth, and AI—to develop scalable, evidence-based solutions that empower schools, healthcare providers, and communities. She is the lead architect of statewide youth opioid prevention programs like TOPS (Texas Opioid Prevention for Students), Trust Hustle (a mobile game), and Split Second (a graphic novel), and collaborates extensively with academic, governmental, and law enforcement agencies. Dr. Alonzo is committed to transforming public health through education, data-driven strategy, and human-centered design.

Dr. Megan O’Grady is a social psychologist and health services researcher interested in using implementation science to improve the system of prevention and treatment for substance use disorder. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and director of the Center for Prevention, Evaluation, and Statistics at UConn Health. Dr. O’Grady is co-investigator on 4 NIH-funded projects and a PCORI-funded study on substance use treatment services, and evaluator on several SAMHSA- and State-funded projects in partnership with New York State and the State of Connecticut. She received her PhD from Colorado State University and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the NIH-funded University of Connecticut School of Medicine Alcohol Research Center. She was formerly an Associate Vice President of Health Services Research at Partnership to End Addiction.

Marissa “Mari” Mackiewicz is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing and a nurse scientist whose work focuses on ensuring all older adults have access to healthcare. Her research interests include substance use disorders and unmet oral health needs in older adult populations. Prior to joining UCF, Mackiewicz held post-doctoral positions at the University of Chicago and Virginia Commonwealth University. Over the past seven years, she has led various research projects aimed at understanding and addressing the health-related needs of older adults. Her work strives to inform healthcare professionals, students, and community members about the unique needs of older adults with mental and behavioral health issues to decrease stigma, promote empathy, and ultimately improve patient care.

Dr. Rottnek is a Professor and the Director of Community Medicine at SSM Health/Saint Louis University School of Medicine and the Program Director of the SSM Health/Saint Louis University Addiction Medicine Fellowship. He is a graduate of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and the Master of Arts in Health Care Mission Program at Aquinas Institute of Theology. His clinical practices currently include addiction medicine and correctional healthcare. He teaches in the School of Medicine and the School of Law. Board-Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine, he is the Chief Medical Officer of the Assisted Recovery Centers of American (ARCA) and Medical Director of Juvenile Detention of the City of St. Louis.

Pamela B. Teaster is a Professor and the Director of the Center for Gerontology and the Associate Department Head of the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Tech. She was a 2023-2025 Health and Aging Policy Fellow, Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and Fellow of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. She received the Isabella Horton Grant Award for Guardianship (National College of Probate Judges), the Rosalie Wolf Award for Research on Elder Abuse (NAPSA), the Outstanding Affiliate Member Award (Kentucky Guardianship Association), and Distinguished Educator Award (Kentucky Association for Gerontology). Areas of scholarship include the abuse of vulnerable adults (e.g., sexual abuse; financial and opioid exploitation, guardianship) surrogate decision making, end-of-life decision-making, ethical treatment of older adults, and public policy and public affairs). She has published over 250 scholarly and translational articles, reports, and book chapters and is the editor/author of 7 books.

Assoc. Prof. Rahul Malhotra is the Executive Director of the Centre for Ageing Research & Education and Associate Professor of Health Services Research & Population Health at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. The primary area of his research is ageing. Key projects that he has led/is leading include (1) nationally representative 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 providing the evidence base for older person-centred prescription medication labels. He has published over 225 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.

Jennifer (Jenny) Sasser, PhD  is an educational gerontologist, transdisciplinary scholar, and social activist. Jenny has been working in the field of aging for more than half her life, beginning as a nursing assistant and advocate before specializing in educational gerontology, and adult development and learning. She has centered her multifaceted practice in the areas of creativity in later life; aging and embodiment; transdisciplinary curriculum design; critical gerontological theory; transformational and radical pedagogy; intersectional and anti-ageist approaches to equity, inclusion, and justice; and cross-generational collaborative inquiry. From 1999 to 2015, Jenny served as Chair of the Department of Human Sciences and Founding Director of Gerontology at Marylhurst University.  She has been an adjunct faculty member of the Pacifica Graduate Institute Depth Psychology program since 2007,  and from 2018 to 2020 designed and taught an adult-learner focused,  hybrid Human Development and Family Sciences program in downtown Portland for Oregon State University. Jenny joined the Portland Community College Gerontology Program in 2016 and currently serves as full-time faculty and department chairperson. Jenny co-authors, with Janet Lee, Blood Stories: Menarche and the Politics of the Female Body in Contemporary US Society;  Aging: Concepts and Controversies with Harry R. Moody (now in its 10th edition); and is first author (also with Moody) of Gerontology: The basics, recently published in Chinese and Spanish.  She co-authors several book chapters and is an essayist. Her ongoing commitments include convening the Gero-Punk Project (www.geropunkproject.org); serving as a community conversation facilitator; and offering consulting, workshops and presentations throughout North America.  An award-winning educator, Jenny’s citations include the 2012 Association for Gerontology in Higher Education Distinguished Teacher award, and a Willamette University Distinguished Alumni award in 2014. In 2022, Jenny was inducted into the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education as a Fellow.

Experienced research analyst skilled in Microsoft Excel, data analysis and reporting, and federal and internal survey development and distribution. Hayley has years of experience in Leadership and Teamwork, Managing Data and People, Project Management, Time Management and Problem Solving. She is a business professional with a Masters of Science in Applied Psychology and concentrations in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Evaluation Research from University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Jennifer Ellis-Gajda, PhD, HS-BCP, CPG, is the program director and instructor of the Gerontology – Aging Services Professional Program at Northwood Technical College in northwestern Wisconsin. Jenn brings extensive experience as a human services and gerontology educator and practitioner.  She spent 20 years working in the long-term care industry, most recently with Acts Retirement-Life Communities, Inc., a not-for-profit owner/operator of continuing care retirement communities (CCRC) on the East Coast. Jenn worked in recreation and social services. In 2007, she was a part of a small start-up team that created the internal hospice program at Acts. Jenn supervised more than 40 hospice volunteers and provided administrative support to program leadership. The unique volunteer program brought Jenn to work with well-elders who served in this Medicare-certified hospice. Along with her work with older adults, Jenn served as an adjunct Human Services faculty member at Montgomery County Community College (MCCC), Chestnut Hill College, and Wilmington University. She spent 13 years as a self-study reader for the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE). She assisted the Human Services program at MCCC to obtain CSHSE's initial accreditation in 2012.  In 2015, Jenn was hired to lead the Gerontology – Aging Services Professional Program start-up. The program specializes in developing career pathways and actively works to bridge the academic and career preparedness for workers in human services, business and industry, and government sectors. The program’s unique delivery and flipped classroom model empower students to be agents of change in communities nationwide. In 2023, AGEC accredited the program. Jenn has a Ph.D. in Leadership and Gerontology from Concordia University Chicago. Her dissertation research focused on developing a gerontology career pathway in Wisconsin. She has a Master of Science in the Administration of Human Services with a concentration in adult and aging services from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. Her master’s thesis was on culture change in long-term care communities, focusing on moving from institution to home. She holds a certificate in Gerontology from Montgomery County Community College (Blue Bell, PA), a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology with a minor in Psychology from the College of St. Scholastica (Duluth, MN), and an Associate of Arts degree in Pre-Physical Therapy from Waldorf University (formerly Waldorf College) in Forest City, IA. Jenn is a Gerontological Society of America (GSA) member and co-convenor of the Community College Interest Group. She is also a member of the National Organization for Human Services (NOHS). She is dually credentialed in human services and gerontology. Her research interests include assessing gerontology credentials and serving as a conduit between academic and career planning frameworks and careers in aging services. Jenn is originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and resides in Superior, Wisconsin, with her fiancé and cats.

Kimberly McDonald came to Northwood Tech with a master’s degree in social work and over 19 years of experience working in the field of human services. Throughout this experience, she performed multiple job responsibilities focused on the complex needs of providing geriatric resources and mental health services. In a complex field such as gerontology, she believes that Northwood Tech’s gerontology program will prepare you to gain increased understanding, knowledge and hands-on skills to work in a rapidly growing field. Her goal is to collaborate with you in your academic journey and assist in facilitating a learning environment that empowers the students. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with my family in the outdoors, whether it be biking, horseback riding, fishing, gardening, paddle boarding, hiking or hockey. In 2023, Kimberly became a Credentialed Professional Gerontologist (CPG) from the National Association for Professional Gerontologists. 

Dr. Tetyana Shippee is a Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She also serves as Associate Director for Research at the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation and as Co-Director of the K12 Scholar Career Development Program with the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. An expert in social gerontology and a health services researcher, Dr. Shippee holds a dual PhD in Gerontology and Sociology. Her research focuses on two main areas: 1) improving quality of life (QOL) and other person-reported outcomes among older adults using long-term services and supports, and 2) analyzing patterns and contributors to inequities in long-term care quality among diverse populations of older adults. A growing portion of her work addresses care quality for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), with particular attention to quality of life and caregiver support.

Erta Cenko is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions. Her research targets conditions that predominantly impact older adults, including cognitive impairment and mobility disability. Her focus is on developing and employing wearable technology applications to facilitate health interventions and provide real-time assessments for aging populations. She is committed to the field of public health and aims to combine her research experience with her passion for teaching and mentoring to help train future clinicians and public health professionals.

Abigail (Abby) Stephan, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and an affiliated faculty member at the Institute for Engaged Aging at Clemson University. Her research often employs a mixed methods approach and takes an interdisciplinary, systems-oriented perspective to a) explore the influence of intergenerational relationships in family, community, and educational contexts on learning, development, and well-being across the lifespan and b) examine social and psychological factors that promote healthy aging. Stephan is also committed to advancing the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based educational opportunities that support learners across the lifespan. Two primary avenues for this work include a) creating resources and fostering mentorship opportunities to ensure high-quality training exists for current and future professionals in the field of gerontology and b) promoting lifelong learning through engaging and fulfilling learning experiences for older adults.

Itunu Akande is a lecturer and research fellow in the Department of Educational Technology and Library Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). He teaches Digital Media and Learning, Diffusion and Adoption of Innovation, Developments in Educational Technology, and Fundamentals of Instructional Design. His research interests broadly surround the philosophical foundations of learning and the ecological frames (cultural, social, psychological) of technology-supported learning systems. With backgrounds in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Media productions, and Education, his research embraces the intersections in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts/humanities, and mathematics) and explores contexts of learning within these spheres. Itunu's collaborations with pre-service and in-service teachers drive his need to investigate teachers' measures of competence, particularly in technology-aided learning spaces, to improve teachers' professional development and ultimately learning outcomes.

Dr. Hollis is a Gerontologist and Assistant Professor of Practice in the Psychology Department at the University of Arizona. She also serves on the Executive Committee for the Innovations in Aging Graduate Programs. Before her academic role, she held positions in behavioral health, aging services, and nonprofit executive management. Her passion lies in preparing the next generation of professionals to advance services and advocate for older adults. Dr. Hollis was appointed to the Minority Issues in Gerontology Advisory Panel for the Gerontological Society of America and is Co-Chair of the Elder Alliance, an initiative housed at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. 

Cynthia holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the American Public University. Retired, December 2023, she was the Executive Director of the Atlantic County Area Agency on Aging (AAA) in New Jersey, with over 30 years’ experience working in older adult services. Currently, she is the Advocacy Consultant for the NJ AAA State Association, promoting older adult advocacy. Through her involvement with the New York Academy of Sciences, Cynthia was introduced to the ethical concerns when Artificial Intelligence intersects with this cohort, prompting her to take a deeper dive into this ethical digital divide. Her ability to speak and present on this topic at the NJ AAA State Associations 2024 annual retreat, GSA’s 2024 Poster Presentation, and USAging’s 2025 Conference, showed that various actors have an opportunity to learn about these AI ethical concerns

Dr. Mei Lan Fang, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Urban Aging at Simon Fraser University, jointly appointed in the Department of Gerontology and the Urban Studies Program. Her research focuses on community-engaged and participatory approaches to aging, health and wellbeing, and urban change, with particular expertise in intergenerational place-making, AgeTech, and climate resilience. She co-leads several participatory projects, including IncludeAge (UK) and COALESCE (Canada), which explore how older adults co-create inclusive, sustainable, and age-friendly communities.

Justine McGovern, PhD, LMSW is the Chair of the Department of Health Promotion and Nutrition Sciences at Lehman College, City University of New York. Justine’s research contributes to increasing health equity for older adults in the urban environment, diversifying the gerontology workforce, integrating arts-based pedagogies into curricula and decolonizing gerontology. She publishes and presents internationally. Justine teaches at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral level. Licensed in social work, Justine has extensive practice experience in dementia care, senior services, and community-based mental health. She is the Chair of the Humanities, Arts and Cultural Gerontology Advisory Panel to the Gerontological Society of America and the international partner of the Irish Gerontology Society. She received her PhD and MSW from New York University's Silver School of Social Work, and her BA in American Studies from Yale University.

Mary Gannon is a nationally recognized executive communications coach. She spent 10 years as the U.S. lead of media and presentation coaching services for Edelman - the world’s largest public relations agency.  Mary’s background as a reporter and producer for CNN Television in Atlanta, WGN-Channel 9 and WBBM Radio in Chicago is crucial to helping her clients effectively deliver high impact messages to external and internal stakeholders. Mary’s clients include Adobe, AstraZeneca, Barilla, Boeing, Cigna, Delta Airlines, Eli Lilly, General Mills, Google, Honeywell, HP, Kroger, lululemon, Mars, Mitsubishi Power, Nike, Pepsi, ServiceNow, Snapchat, Starbucks, Target, The Home Depot and Walmart. She holds a BS in journalism from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.