Name
Full Name
Katy Abbott, PhD, MGS
Credentials
PhD, MGS
Role
Executive Committee, Training Core
Primary title
Executive Director
Primary Institution
Scripps Gerontology Center
Complete Titles
Executive Director, Scripps Gerontology Center and Professor of Gerontology, Miami University
Bio
Katy Abbott, PhD, MGS, is executive director of the Scripps Gerontology Center and Professor of Gerontology at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Her research and teaching focus on preference-based, person-centered care for older adults receiving long-term services and supports. She co-founded Preference Based Living, a collaborative organization dedicated to advancing understanding of individual preferences through the development and use of the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory, a valid and reliable assessment tool. Dr. Abbott leads research initiatives, including training in Emotion-Focused Communication, which equips care partners with practical strategies to enhance connection and reduce distress among individuals living with dementia, and the Individualized Positive Psychosocial Interaction (IPPI) program, which advances person-centered improvements in care delivery. Her work bridges research and practice, ensuring that interventions are both rigorous and feasible in real-world settings. She is committed to mentoring emerging scholars and collaborating across disciplines to advance scalable, non-pharmacological interventions in dementia care.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
Erin Luers Abbott, MS
Credentials
MS
Role
Project Director, Investigator Navigation Team
Core Navigator, Training Core (TrC)
Primary title
Project Director
Primary Institution
Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research
Complete Titles
Project Director, Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research
Bio
Erin Luers Abbott, MS, is a project director for the IMPACT Collaboratory. She co-leads the Investigator Navigation Team and is core navigator for the Training Core. She focuses on Smartsheet systems integration for IMPACT, our project management system. Ms. Luers Abbott got her bachelor’s degree in anthropology with art and biology minors at Hamilton College and received her master’s in medical sciences from Boston University School of Medicine. Ms. Luers Abbott started working at the Marcus Institute at Hebrew SeniorLife in June 2018.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
Ellen McCarthy, PhD, MPH
Credentials
PhD, MPH
Role
Executive Director, IMPACT Collaboratory; Executive Committee, Training Core; Steering Committee
Primary title
Executive Director
Primary Institution
Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research
Complete Titles
Executive Director, IMPACT Collaboratory
Executive Committee, Training Core
Associate Scientist, Palliative Care, Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research
Associate Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Associate Scientist, Hebrew SeniorLife's Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research
Faculty, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Bio
Ellen McCarthy, PhD, MPH, is an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard and associate scientist in the Palliative Care in Aging Research Center at Hebrew SeniorLife’s Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research in Boston. She is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with extensive experience in research, administration, and training. Dr. McCarthy has led research aimed at improving care of older patients with advanced illness with a focus on reducing healthcare disparities among underserved, older populations. She has worked across diverse groups of patients, caregivers, providers, healthcare systems, and investigators to inform strategies to navigate research activities across these complex environments. Her expertise includes using clinical data and Medicare-linked databases to address research questions in older people. Dr. McCarthy previously served as assistant dean for development and diversity at Harvard Medical School. She participates in several Harvard fellowship programs and has mentored many successful investigators in aging research.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
James Rudolph, MD, SM
Credentials
MD, SM
Role
Core Co-Leader, Training Core
Primary title
Professor of Medicine
Primary Institution
Brown University School of Public Health
Complete Titles
Director, Center of Innovation in Long Term Services and Supports, Providence VA Medical Center
Professor of Medicine, Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University
Professor of Health Policy & Practice, Brown University School of Public Health
Bio
James (Jim) Rudolph, MD, was a professor of medicine and health policy & practice at Brown University and directs the VA Center of Innovation in Long Term Services and Supports. He was a clinician, researcher, and educator. He was an active clinician who works with interdisciplinary teams to identify at-risk patients, modify the risk, and provide medical care with a focus on function. He developed clinically innovative methods and programs to improve recovery after hospitalization. Driven by his clinical work, his research used the health system to develop and implement changes that improved the lives of older people. He also had a passion for training the next generation of aging researchers. Of his 200 scientific publications, most are with trainees.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
Tina Sadarangani, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, GNP-BC
Credentials
PhD, RN, ANP-BC, GNP-BC
Role
Executive Committee
Training Core (TrC)
Primary title
Assistant Professor
Primary Institution
NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Complete Titles
Assistant Professor, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Bio
Tina Sadarangani, PhD, RN, FAAN, is an NIH-funded assistant professor at NYU and a board-certified adult and geriatric nurse practitioner. Her research focuses on improving care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and supporting their families—especially immigrant families navigating complex healthcare systems. She developed CareMobi™, an award-winning app that helps caregivers coordinate care, and founded The Enlightened Caregiver, a social media movement empowering families to advocate for optimal care. Dr. Sadarangani is a national leader in advancing adult day centers as key partners in chronic disease management and nutrition programs for underserved older adults. Her collaborations with the National and California Associations of Adult Day Services have shown that integrating these centers into healthcare reduces unnecessary utilization and enhances person-centered care. Widely published and featured in major media outlets, she has been honored by Crain’s New York Business as a Notable Leader in Healthcare. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the Gerontological Society of America, and the New York Academy of Medicine.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
Andrea Schwartz, MD, MPH
Credentials
MD, MPH
Role
Consultant
Training Core (TrC)
Primary title
Associate Professor of Medicine
Primary Institution
Harvard Medical School
Bio
Andrea Wershof Schwartz, MD, MPH, AGSF, is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the associate director for Clinical Innovation in the New England Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center at VA Boston. Dr. Schwartz co-directs the Aging and End of Life curricular Theme at HMS and is an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where she co-directs the Frailty course. A national leader in the Age Friendly Health Systems movement, Dr. Schwartz serves as faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and is a recipient of the American Geriatrics Society's Outstanding Clinician Educator Award.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
Alexia Torke, MD, MS
Credentials
MD, MS
Role
Core Co-Leader, Training Core (TrC)
Demonstration Project Awardee, Cycle 3
Primary title
Professor of Medicine and Division Head of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics
Primary Institution
Oregon Health & Science University
Complete Titles
Professor of Medicine and Division Head of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Oregon Health & Science University
Bio
Alexia (Lexy) Torke, MD, MS, is a professor of medicine and division head of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Torke received her MD from Indiana University and completed her primary care-internal medicine residency at Emory University in Atlanta. She completed fellowship training at the University of Chicago in primary care health services research and ethics. Dr. Torke’s research focuses on ethical, communication, and spiritual aspects of medical decision-making for older adults, especially surrogate decision-making for older people living with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. She has received funding from the NIH, the Greenwall Foundation and other foundation sources. She practices general internal medicine and palliative medicine.
Core/Team Associations
Full Name
Ana-Maria Vranceanu, PhD
Credentials
PhD
Role
Executive Committee
Training Core (TrC)
Primary title
David T. and Joanne V. Rovee Professor of Psychology
Primary Institution
Harvard Medical School
Complete Titles
Director, Office of Research Careers, Center for Academic Development and Enrichment (CADE)
Mass General Brigham Academic Medical Centers
Associate Chief of Research
Mass General Brigham Academic Medical Centers Psychiatry Department
Founding Director, Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR)
Mass General Brigham Academic Medical Centers Psychiatry Department
David T. Rovee PhD and Joanne V. Rovee Endowed Professor in Psychology
Harvard Medical School
Bio
Ana-Maria Vranceanu, PhD, is a clinical health psychologist, the David T. and Joanne V. Rovee Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, and associate chief for research in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She is the founding director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR) and director of the Office of Research Careers at Mass General Brigham’s Center for Academic Development and Enrichment. CHOIR integrates research, education, and community engagement to improve health and well-being through interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Vranceanu’s research focuses on improving the lives of older adults, individuals with serious illness, and their caregivers, emphasizing dementia care, chronic pain, and dyadic interventions. Using the NIH Stage Model and Science of Behavior Change principles, she co-develops, tests and implements behavioral, mind-body, and digital interventions. She co-leads the MGH Roybal Center for Dyadic Interventions in Dementia, the MGH T32 Bridge the Gap, the R25 Dementia Palliative Care Clinical Trials, the Research and Education Core of the MGH Dementia RCMAR, and the Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR) Lifespan Health Track of the MGH Clinical Psychology Internship.
Core/Team Associations