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.

Laura Haynes, Ph.D. obtained her B.S. from the University of Miami and her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She did postdoctoral work at UCSD and then became a faculty member at the Trudeau Institute. During this time, she began studying how aging impacts the function of T cells. Her pioneering studies described both intrinsic and extrinsic effects of aging and senescence on T cell function and how this impacts the response to infection and vaccination. In 2013, she moved to UConn Health where she is currently a tenured professor in the Center on Aging and Department of Immunology. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for GSA and also serves as Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Aging as well as a deputy editor for the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences. She is also the President of the UConn Health chapter of AAUP.

Karen S. Lyons, PhD, FGSA is a health and social psychologist at the Connell School of Nursing, Boston College and a member of the GSA Board of Directors. Her research focuses on the interpersonal context of illness (e.g., cancer, ADRD, heart failure), namely, how older adults and their care partners navigate illness together. Most recently, her work focuses on the development and testing of dyadic health interventions to optimize the health of both members of the care dyad. She has a strong record of mentoring students and early-career researchers, formed the GSA dyadic health research interest group, and co-leads the Boston College Healthy Aging Initiative.

Dr. Perry’s research addresses urban aging from a life course perspective, focusing on how underserved older adults navigate their social and built environments in times of instability and change. She serves as research chair of a multi-agency coalition, Senior Housing Preservation-Detroit. She recently received a national award on behalf of the coalition from the macro social work community. She is a co-leader of the NIH-funded Community Liaison and Recruitment Core of the Michigan Center for African American Aging Research. She is a fellow in the Gerontological Society of America and is a former president of the Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW).