Nicole Werner, PhD is associate professor of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and holds the endowed Bradley E Smith Directorship in Anesthesiology. She directs the Center for Research and Innovation in Systems Science, a research center and technology consultancy focused on applying human centered design to design, evaluate, and implement healthcare technologies and process innovations. She is also an investigator in the Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. As a Human Factors Engineer, Dr. Werner merges disciplines to engage patients and caregivers in co-designing interventions in ways that address a broad range of patient and family-centered outcomes. With over $30 million in external funding from the NIH, NSF, PCORI, HRSA, and AHRQ; her research has co-produced health technology and care process interventions to improve health and healthcare within and across healthcare settings and in the home, with a particular focus on dementia care and caregiving.

Dr. Rupa Valdez is a Professor at the University of Virginia with joint appointments in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Medicine and serves as President of the Blue Trunk Foundation. Dr. Valdez merges the disciplines of human factors engineering, health informatics, and cultural anthropology to understand and support the ways in which people manage chronic health conditions at home and in the community. Her work draws heavily on community engagement with community organizations and individuals from multiple health disparity populations. Her research has been supported by the NIH, AHRQ, NSF, PCORI, and the USDA, among others. She has testified before Congress on the topic of health equity for the disability community and serves on the Board of Directors for the American Association of People with Disabilities and as an advisor for the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Health Equity Expert Work Group among others.