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.