Dr. Block is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah College of Nursing, where her research focuses on improving care for nursing home residents, particularly those living with dementia and experiencing unmet palliative and behavioral health needs. Her work is grounded in her experience as a long-term care nurse, where she observed the complex biopsychosocial challenges residents and families face at the end of life. She uses mixed methods approaches, combining large-scale data analysis with qualitative inquiry to identify patterns in resident symptoms and inform strategies to improve care delivery. Her current research examines indicators of palliative care need and seeks to develop resident- and family-centered interventions that integrate palliative and behavioral health perspectives to improve symptom management at the end of life, supported by funding from the National Institute on Aging and institutional awards.

Dr. Cacchione is the Ralston House Term Chair in Gerontological Nursing, Professor of Geropsychiatric Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and Nurse Scientist at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She is a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner who has practiced for over 30 years across the care continuum. She is a nurse innovator. Her research focuses on social robotics for older adults. She is the CEO and Founder of AgingSense, a startup technology company to improve the lives of older adults. Dr Cacchione received her BSN from Villanova University, MSN from Marymount University, and PhD from Saint Louis University. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Iowa. Dr. Cacchione has over 100 publications and is the Past Editor in Chief of Clinical Nursing Research and International Journal. Dr. Cacchione is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Academy of Nursing.

Jennifer Baumbusch, RN, PhD, FAAN, FCAN is a Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Nursing and former CIHR Chair in Sex and Gender Science (2020 - 2024). Her expertise is in family caregiving, qualitative research, and knowledge translation. Jennifer is an Associate Editor with the International Journal of Older People Nursing and Co-Editor: Qualitative Research with The Gerontologist. She leads a research program examining health equity in the context of climate change, with a focus on older adults, people with lifelong disabilities, and family caregivers. Learn more about Jennifer’s research here: https://climateresilience.nurs...

Dr. Zuelsdorff is an epidemiologist studying social-to-biological pathways that shape cognitive health and health disparities in older populations. Primary goals of her research program include identifying (1) community-salient dementia risk factors, as well as (2) personal, community, and policy-based resources that promote successful aging, delay impairment, and reduce burden for families and communities.