Cole Allick, MHA, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. He is two-spirit researcher that centers his identity and experiences in his work. He is passionate about Indigenous research methods, Tribal Sovereignty, data governance, and working closely with Elders. He currently works at the Institute for Research to Educate and Advance Community Health (IREACH) with the methods and outreach cores. Concurrently, he is working to finish his PhD in Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota.

Joyce (Joy) Balls-Berry, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine and Core Leader for the newly established Health Disparities and Equity Core in the Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Senior Associate Consultant at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Her work as a scientist centers on the importance of research to increase health equity in minority and under-resourced communities. Dr. Balls-Berry recently completed a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute project to expand the efforts of the Minority Women in Research Network, which she established in 2011. The network’s mission is to promote community-patient engagement in research conducted by minority women scientists interested in research collaborations, academic scholarship, innovation, and dissemination. 

Dedra Buchwald, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University, and Director of the Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health, an institutionally supported unit that works with underserved, health disparity populations. Dr. Buchwald is the Founding Director of Partnerships for Native Health, a group that conducts research, education, and training efforts with American Indians and Alaska Natives. Her background in public health, epidemiology, and primary care considers health at the level of the individual, the community, and the health care system. Dr. Buchwald has mentored dozens of junior faculty primarily from groups underrepresented in health research, who have published approximately 500 papers, garnered close to $200 million in grants, and become leaders and mentors in their own right.

Jason D. Flatt is an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at UNLV's School of Public Health. His most recent research works to better understand the concerns and needs of LGBTQIA+ seniors living with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as the needs of their chosen families. He also teaches courses on community based participatory research and social and behavioral health theory.

Kathleen Jackson is the Managing Editor of the Medical Sciences section of The Journals of Gerontology Series A. She also manages the Biological Sciences section of the journal and both sections of The Journals of Gerontology Series B (Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences). Ms. Jackson has been a longtime advocate for diversifying the reviewer pool, Editorial Boards, and Associate Editors for her journals. She credits her three sons, whom she adopted, for increasing her awareness of disparities and discrimination for racial and ethnic minorities. Their presence has enriched her life and made her realize that not only is it okay to talk about race, it is even better to speak out about discrimination and microaggressions that take place. 

Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD, FGSA, is the Director of the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Chief Academic Officer and Irving and Edyth S. Usen and Family Chair in Medical Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, Chief of the Division of Gerontology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His research is focused on the mechanisms and management of age-related alterations in cognition and mobility, including clinical trials to prevent disease and disability in late life. Dr. Lipsitz is the current Editor-in-Chief of The Gerontological Society of America’s Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Gladys Maestre, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Neuroscience and Human Genetics and the Director of the Rio Grande Valley Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. She is also Professor Emerita at the University of Zulia in Venezuela. Since 1998, Dr. Maestre has been leading the Maracaibo Aging Study as principal investigator. This longitudinal populationbased study of dementia and other age-related health problems has followed more than 2,500 subjects since its inception and has provided important insights about the aging of Latinos. The focus of Dr. Maestre’s research is to advance understanding of age-related conditions that disproportionately affect Latinos, at the intersection of biomedical, social and behavioral, and implementation sciences.

Shana D. Stites, PsyD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. As a clinical psychologist and researcher with the Penn Program on Precision Medicine for the Brain (P3 MB), Dr. Stites focuses on advancing diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. The goal is to understand ways to promote quality of life and psychological well-being, which includes looking closely at the impacts of the disease on individuals who may be directly affected by pathology as well as their family members. As part of this work, Dr. Stites has a special focus on better understanding how aspects of identity, such as age, gender, and race, operate as determinants in the disease experience, which may offer insights into disease-mechanisms and the development of interventions that help limit burdens of the disease. 

Roland J. Thorpe Jr., PhD, FGSA, is a Professor in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he also serves as Deputy Director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research, and Co-Director of the Health Equity and Social Justice Concentration of the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) Program. He holds joint appointments in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and the Department of Neurology in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Department of Sociology in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. As a social epidemiologist and gerontologist, Dr. Thorpe’s research focuses on how race, socioeconomic status, and segregation influence health and well-being for African Americans, particularly African American men.