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 the 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. Additionally, she serves on the leadership team of the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research National Coordinating Center.

Alisha Thompson is a PhD candidate in the School of Social Work at Louisiana State University (LSU). Alisha has been selected as a Huel D. Perkins Diversity Fellow at LSU and an Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW) Pre-Dissertation Fellow in 2022, and she was a 2023 GSA Summer Policy Intern. Thompson is grateful for and humbled by these honors. She recognizes and wholeheartedly embraces the responsibility to serve that comes with such accolades. Her dissertation research focuses on the relationship between community support, self-efficacy, and technology use for social engagement in older Americans with low vision.  

Bailee Brekke is a second-year graduate student at Miami University working toward earning her master’s degree in gerontological studies. She also is a graduate research assistant in the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University helping conduct various research projects that support older adults. Her research interests surround policies at the state level that help fill gaps in care for older individuals living in the state of Ohio as well as developing initiatives that support people living with dementia and their care partners. Brekke was the first-ever master’s level student to serve as a GSA Summer Policy Intern.

Christina Mu is a PhD candidate in the School of Aging Studies at University of South Florida. Mu’s research focuses on the individual and joint associations of sleep health and pain on health and well-being outcomes; her dissertation is funded by NIH/NHLBI F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research. As a GSA Summer Policy Intern, she worked on various tasks related to provisions for the Older Americans Act, reauthorization of Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, climate change and aging, Medicare Advantage outcomes, and reframing aging.