Dr. Soomi Lee is an associate professor of Aging Studies at Penn State. She is a developmental and behavioral health scientist interested in sleep, pain, and lifestyle factors that underlie healthy aging. Dr. Lee has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles in these topic areas. She is an associate editor of the National Sleep Foundation’s journal, Sleep Health, and serves on the editorial board of SLEEP. In honor of her contributions to the field of aging, Dr. Lee received the Springer Early Career Achievement Award by the American Psychological Association. Her work has been supported by multiple external funding mechanisms. For example, she received an NHLBI R01 award to examine longitudinal relationships between sleep health profiles and chronic pain mediated by social lifestyles and stress-related inflammation. This was to extend her prior R56 project funded by NIA that identified different sleep health profiles in relation to cardiovascular and cognitive health.

David Chiriboga received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1972, but was appointed to the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco in 1969. After leaving the latter institution in 1986 to become director of a gerontology center at San Jose State University, he joined the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he served as professor and chair of the Department of Health Promotion and Gerontology. From 2001 to 2023, he was a professor at the University of South Florida, where he currently holds an emeritus appointment. Dr. Chiriboga’s research has focused primarily on the measurement of varying types of stressor conditions, especially in disadvantaged populations. Topics included normative and non-normative transitions, caregiving to persons with Alzheimer’s disease, and immigration. He joined GSA in the 1960s.

Professor Wilber is director of the Secure Old Age lab, co-director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center, and co-director of the USC Center on Elder Justice. Her research focuses on improving outcomes and quality of life for vulnerable older adults, adults with disabilities, and family caregivers. Focusing on adults with chronic illness, disability, cognitive impairment, and/or economic insecurity, her research includes studies on: 1) financial and workplace security for family caregivers, 2) the effectiveness of caregiver social support and psychoeducational interventions to prevent elder mistreatment, 3) person centered approaches in health care, social services, and protective services, 4) the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of multi-disciplinary teams to address elder mistreatment, and 3) the prevalence of elder mistreatment.

Steven H. Zarit is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Family Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a pioneer in research on family caregivers of persons with dementia. His research includes evaluation of psychosocial interventions for persons with dementia and family relationships across the life span. He has been a GSA member since 1972.