The Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services was established to advise the Secretary for HHS on work conducted or needed regarding Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) and provide recommendations for the National Plan on a yearly basis. The Advisory Council meets officially every quarter for public meetings, and through subcommittees, members meet as often as necessary.
The Advisory Council is made up of federal and non-federal members. Federal members are comprised of expert designees from: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Administration on Aging; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; the Indian Health Service; the National Institutes of Health; the National Science Foundation; the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Food and Drug Administration; and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Non-federal members include: Alzheimer's patient advocates; Alzheimer's caregivers; health care providers; state health department representatives; researchers with Alzheimer's-related expertise; and voluntary health association representatives.
Comments and questions, or alerts to broken links, should be sent to napa@hhs.gov.
Non-Federal Advisory Council Member Biographies
Chair — Adrienne Mims
Adrienne Mims is the Chief Medical Officer at Rainmakers Strategic Solutions where she provides thought leadership in the areas of geriatrics, health equity, clinical quality measures, patient/family engagement, and quality improvement. She was a practicing geriatrician at JenCare Senior Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente in Georgia. She brings both a clinical physician’s perspective as well as a broader policy understanding to her work. Dr. Mims served as the Medical Director and later the VP and Chief Medical Officer at Alliant Health Solutions (a quality improvement organization). She currently sits on the boards of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the RRF Foundation for Aging, and is the Vice Chair of the Georgia Council on Aging. Dr. Mims is a member of the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementia (GARD) Council. She previously participated as a member of ARC’s Advisory Committee on Aging, and the Governor’s Older Adults Cabinet under Governor Nathan Deal.
Randall Bateman
Randall Bateman is the Director of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU), a practicing neurologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology. Dr. Bateman’s research focuses on the pathophysiology and development of improved diagnostics and treatments of AD. He was selected for the American Brain Foundation Potamkin Prize in 2019 and elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020 for his many contributions to the understanding of this brain disease, such as developing a blood test which detects the earliest stages of AD. He is a key leader in the field and is particularly gifted at making research findings understandable for people with dementia and their families.
Deke Cateau
Mr. Cateau has worked in the long-term care field for more than 20 years, including as CEO of A.G. Rhodes in Atlanta, Georgia since 2018. A.G. Rhodes is a not-for-profit provider organization that provides residential long-term care, short-term rehabilitation, and therapy to more than 1,000 individuals each year at three sites in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Mr. Cateau leads a team of 500 caregiving professionals and works daily with staff, residents, and family members. Most of the residents served by A.G. Rhodes are Medicaid beneficiaries, and many have dementia. As a leader in the fields of health care and aging Mr. Cateau provides an important perspective on long-term care for people living with dementia. Additionally, Mr. Cateau is a published author and serves on the Board of Directors and committees of several non-profit and civic organizations including LeadingAge and the Georgia Alzheimer’s and related Dementias State Plan Advisory Council.
Fawn Cothran
Dr. Cothran is the Hunt Research Director at the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) where she helps elevate national family caregiving research by strategically developing and guiding NAC research initiatives, including the landmark Caregiving in the U.S. report. Dr. Cothran is a nurse scientist, and a board-certified gerontological clinical nurse specialist working with academic partners and various community-based, national, federal, and advocacy organizations to advance research addressing the inequities and complexities that family caregivers experience across lifespan and condition. Prior to joining NAC, Dr. Cothran was a faculty member in the Family Caregiving Institute at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at University of California (UC) Davis and co-lead/consultant of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. As a nurse scientist with a deep background in Alzheimer’s disease caregiving research and in health equity, Dr. Cothran will bring important experience and expertise to the Advisory Council.
Roberta Cruz
Ms. Cruz is a caregiver to her mother, Zenaida, who is living in the late stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Ms. Cruz’s mother first started exhibiting noticeable symptoms of cognitive change in November 2014 during a visit in North Carolina. Before a formal diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, Ms. Cruz moved her mother from California to live with her young family in North Carolina. As her mother’s health declined, Roberta has navigated adult day programs, in-home care, residential care and in-home hospice care while simultaneously navigating the search for childcare, preschool and elementary school selection for her young children and moving across the country. Adding an additional layer to her experience as part of the "sandwich generation," she has charted a path that both embraces and challenges traditional Filipino expectations of daughters as caregivers. She feels this experience is needed more than ever as a generation of Lolos/Lolas (respected Filipino elders), who immigrated to the U.S. for a better life, are continuing to face Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Ms. Cruz finds joy and healing in the presence of her family, friends and the communities whom she continues to grow with both at her children's school garden and at the YMCA where she teaches dance.
Susan DeMarois
Ms. DeMarois was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as Director of the California Department of Aging in November 2021. As Director, she is committed to stakeholder engagement, equity and inclusion, and system transformation in California. Prior to this role, she served as the Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the Alzheimer’s Association’s California chapters, where she led the effort to enact the state’s dementia early detection initiative focused on the Medicaid population -- the first of its kind in the nation, as well as the Healthy Brain Initiative in partnership with local public health departments. Ms. DeMarois also served on the Governor’s statewide Alzheimer’s Prevention and Preparedness Task Force, in addition to the Master Plan for Aging Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Under her direction, California has focused on the inclusion of the intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) population in its dementia work and the training of Medicaid-eligible Community Health Workers employed by Area Agencies on Aging.
Keun Kim
Keun Kim is the Chief Compliance Officer and Acting Chief Operating Officer for the community health center at Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS), a FQHC and social services agency in Georgia. In collaboration with Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Division of Aging Services, he successfully established, for the first time in Atlanta Metro Area, Older Americans Act Nutrition Programs and senior recreation programs for under-served seniors from refugee and immigrant communities. Mr. Kim has been working towards building culturally and linguistically responsive dementia care infrastructure, including a caregiver support program for refugee and immigrant communities.
Helen Bundy Medsger
Helen Medsger is a longtime family caregiver and advocate for individuals with ADRD, specifically Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). Mrs. Medsger first began caregiving in her youth, when her mother suffered a brain injury. Then, over 30 years ago, her father developed LBD, followed by her older sister and younger brother. She was the primary caregiver for three of these family members, navigating Medicare, SSDI, Medicaid, private insurance, home health, and institutional care. She now facilitates a support group through the Lewy Body Dementia Association, volunteers for the Brain Support Network, and has consulted for the Care Ecosystem study at the UCSF Memory & Aging Center, where she also serves as a member of the Family Advisory Council. Mrs. Medsger is involved with the Global Brain Health Institute, advising Atlantic Fellows as future leaders on dementia work. Her experience working in peer-to-peer volunteer networks for family supports is well-respected and she is currently advising in Ireland on the adoption of LBD-specific support models.
John-Richard Pagan
Mr. Pagan is an openly gay, Hispanic veteran who was diagnosed with dementia at 47 years old. After meeting with multiple clinicians and facing several misdiagnoses, he ultimately received his Lewy Bodies Dementia (LBD) diagnosis in 2018. Mr. Pagan became a volunteer and advocate for the Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA), has been a member of the Dementia Action Alliance Board of Directors and their Advisory Board, serves on the Dementia Friendly Airports Working Group, and serves as an advisor on the Global Dementia Observatory by the World Health Organization (WHO). Mr. Pagan brings a rich set of perspectives, shaped by his life experiences, to any discussion on dementia. His positive approach continues to inspire others with LBD to find a path to ‘living well with Lewy Body Dementia.’
Joanne Pike
Joanne Pike is the President of the Alzheimer's Association and is responsible for the Association’s mission strategy and implementation. In her former role as the Chief Strategy Officer of the Association, she led the strategic plan on advancing risk reduction, care and support, research, advocacy, diversity and inclusion, concern and awareness, and fundraising. Prior to her role as CSO, Dr. Pike was a Chief Program Officer for the Alzheimer’s Association, where she led on the Association’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. Dr. Pike previously worked as the Executive Director of the Preventive Health Partnership between the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association. In this role, she developed a joint strategy grounded in social determinants of health and the role of this partnership to create guiding principles, programs, and consensus statements to help build a culture of health.
Yakeel Quiroz
Dr. Quiroz is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA. She is the Director of the MGH Familial Dementia Neuroimaging Lab and the Multicultural Alzheimer’s Prevention Program (MAPP). Her research uses cognitive, biofluid and neuroimaging measures to examine some of the earliest brain changes associated with predisposition to dementia. She has training in cognitive neuroscience, brain imaging and clinical neuropsychology, with specific training and expertise in multicultural populations. Her work includes Colombian families with early onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and CADASIL, as well as U.S. Latino adults at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Quiroz’s research is recognized nationally and internationally.
Rhonda Williams
Rhonda Williams is the Chronic Disease Prevention Chief at Vermont Department of Health, where she runs three CDC-funded state programs including Alzheimer’s and Health Aging. This program focuses on preventing and reducing chronic disease morbidity and mortality, reducing the risk of cognitive decline, and increasing population level health, primarily through lifestyle modifications and improving health equity. Ms. Williams also leads cross-department collaborations such as the State Action Plan on Alzheimer’s and Healthy Aging, the Medicaid Tobacco Initiative to decrease smoking among Medicaid-insured, and the Hub and Spoke Workgroup on ADRD Screening, Early Diagnosis and Care. She served on the Public Health Accreditation Board Healthy Aging Think Tank and is a member of the Stakeholder Engagement Advisory Board of the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving.
Federal Advisory Council Member Agency Affiliations
Department of Health and Human Services
Tisamarie Sherry, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Behavioral Health, Disability, and Aging Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Bruce Finke, M.D., Elder Care Consultant, Indian Health Service
Richard Hodes, M.D., Director, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
Shari Ling, M.D., Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Arlene S. Bierman, M.D., M.S., Director, Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Erin Long, M.S.W., Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services, Administration on Aging/Administration for Community Living
Lisa C. McGuire, Ph.D., Lead, Alzheimer's Disease and Healthy Aging Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Joan Weiss, Ph.D., R.N., C.R.N.P., F.A.A.N., Chief, Geriatrics and Allied Health Branch, Health Resources and Services Administration
Department of Defense
Sarah Fontaine Ph.D., Health Science Program Manager, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, United States Army Medical Research and Development Command
National Science Foundation
Rebecca Ferrell, Ph.D., Program Director, Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science
Department of Veterans Affairs
Cheryl Schmitz, M.S., R.N., N.E.-B.C., C.N.S.-B.C., National Director, Home and Community Based and Purchased Care Programs, Veteran's Healthcare Administration