RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN DEMENTIA
Panel Bios
Monday, October 31, 2016
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Gwen Yeo -- Stanford Geriatric Education Center
Gwen Yeo was the founding Director of the Stanford Geriatric Education Center in Stanford University School of Medicine, which was funded by the Bureau of Health Professions for 28 years. After teaching sociology and gerontology at Texas Tech University and Chabot College, she joined Stanford University School of Medicine where she directed several geriatric education and research programs. Under her leadership, the multidisciplinary, multiethnic Stanford GEC helped develop the field of ethnogeriatrics. Her work has focused on the development of resources and curricula for ethnogeriatric education. She has published widely in the field of ethnogeriatrics, is senior editor of two editions of the book, Ethnicity and the Dementias and Section Editor for Ethnogeriatrics and Special Populations of the Journal of American Geriatrics Society. She is caregiver for her husband who has dementia.
Carl V. Hill -- NIA Office of Special Populations
Carl V. Hill serves as the Director of the NIA Office of Special Populations. Dr. Hill comes to the NIA from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), where he was a Contract Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) with the National Children's Study after serving as Health Scientist Administrator (HSA) for the Extramural Associates Research Development Award (EARDA) in the NICHD Division of Special Populations. Before NICHD, Dr. Hill was an HSA with the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (now the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities).
Dr. Hill is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Master of Public Health program at Morehouse School of Medicine, a research fellow at the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH) at the University of Michigan (UM), and completed doctoral study at the UM School of Public Health.
Office of Special Populations Website: http://www.nia.nih.gov/research/health-disparities
Jason Resendez -- LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's Network
Jason Resendez is the executive director of the LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's Network and Coalition, a national initiative that drives awareness and action on Alzheimer's disease and dementia in the Latino community. In 2014, the LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's Network launched the nation's first-ever coalition of Latino advocacy and health organizations to address dementia's growing impact on the Latino community and the nation through coordinated advocacy and awareness raising efforts. LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's is a network of UsAgainstAlzheimer's, a disruptive and inclusive advocacy organization focused on stopping Alzheimer's by 2025.
Prior to LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's, Jason served as senior manager of strategic partnerships at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Latino advocacy organization. While at NCLR, Jason developed outreach and partnership strategies to strengthen the organization's core program and advocacy efforts. Before joining NCLR, Jason led external relations for LULAC National Educational Service Centers (LNESC), the education arm of LULAC, the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization. While at LNESC, Jason oversaw strategic alliances, development, and technology programming for the organization's 14 regional offices.
Jason currently serves as an external advisor to several key initiatives in the technology and aging space, including AT&T's Advisory Panel on Access and Aging, the Center for Aging in Diverse Communities at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and the Administration for Community Living's Hispanic Technical Expert Board. Jason serves as the co-chair of the diversity advisory committee of the National Alzheimer's & Dementia Patient & Caregiver-Powered Research Network, funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Jason also sits on the Ronald McDonald House/ HACER Scholarship Committee, which has awarded $20 million in scholarships to nearly 14,000 Latino students.
Jason has written about health, technology and education issues for national and regional media outlets, including the Huffington Post, NBC News, and the El Paso Times.
Jason hails from South Texas and is a graduate of Georgetown University.
Stephanie J. Monroe - UsAgainstAlzheimer's African American Network
Stephanie J. Monroe is Executive Director of UsAgainstAlzheimer's African American Network, which is the first national network created specifically to respond to Alzheimer's disease and its disparate impact on African Americans. By working nationally, locally, and through strategic partnerships, African Americans Against Alzheimer's is raising awareness of the critical need for additional research investments and arming African Americans and others with the information needed to engage, connect, and mobilize individuals, businesses, and community and faith-based organizations in efforts that advance our national commitment to ending Alzheimer's by 2025. One of the primary focuses is a multi-tiered effort to inform and encourage more African Americans to participate in clinical trials. An attorney with three decades of federal public policy experience. Stephanie served as the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights from 2005-2009. In that position, she was the Secretary of Education's primary adviser on civil rights issues. Prior to serving in the Executive Branch, Stephanie ended her 25 years on Capitol Hill after holding a number of key staff positions in the United States Congress, including Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, as well as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families. With a particular emphasis of domestic policy issues involving health, education, child welfare, individual empowerment and community services, Stephanie helped develop and navigate dozens of bills from policy inception into law. She has been a guest lecturer on public policy, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Maryland's Graduate School of Public Policy, and a contributor on numerous articles addressing a variety of health, education and children's issues.
Pernessa Seele -- The Balm in Gilead, Inc.
One of Time Magazine 100 Most Influential Persons in the World, Dr. Pernessa Seele is Founder and CEO of The Balm In Gilead, Inc., a not-for- profit organization, celebrating 28 years of providing technical support that strengthens the capacity to faith institutions in the USA and in Africa to promote health education and services that contribute to the elimination of health disparities. As a pioneer in developing public health & faith based models for engaging individuals in biomedical interventions, Essence Magazine, in its 35 Anniversary issue, named Dr. Seele one of the 35 Most Beautiful And Remarkable Women In The World; In May 2010, Dr. Seele was selected as 21 Leaders of the 21st Century of Women E-News in New York City. Dr. Seele has worked with three US presidential administrations on issues of health in the United States and abroad. She is known for her extraordinary vision and ability to create national and global partnerships among leaders of various cultures and religious doctrines in areas of health promotion and disease prevention.
Nancy E. Lee -- Minnesota Board on Aging
Awarded the "Champion at the State" by Volunteers of America MN/WI and Augustana Care - Open Circle for her work in promoting health equity and cultural responsiveness in the field of dementia, Nancy E. Lee develops creative ideas for enhancing the effectiveness of the Minnesota Department of Human Services' (DHS) aging services network. She provides guidance and advanced technical expertise to implement federal and state dementia grants as well as caregiver support initiatives for the state. For example, through the ACL - Alzheimer's disease Initiative (ADI) grant creating a resource of dementia trained cultural consultants to assist aging network providers with design and implementation of programs in new immigrant and historically disadvantaged communities. Nancy is a certified Technology of Participation (ToP) Facilitator and was nominated to participate in the Community Innovation Grant awarded to DHS by the Bush Foundation. This led to recently co-designing a facilitated community engagement conversation with Somali elders in their native language. She has also contributed to the state's ACT on Alzheimer's health equity initiatives including infusion of cultural content in clinical practice tools. Nancy's background includes ownership of a Class A home healthcare agency and she has a Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.