Moderator:

Panelists:

Alisha R. Thompson, LMSW, Louisiana State University

Bailee Brekke, BA, Miami University

Bios:

Patricia D’Antonio is the Vice President of Policy and Professional Affairs for The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and a board-certified geriatric pharmacist. Trish directs GSA’s policy initiatives and is responsible for developing relationships with organizations in the aging arena.  

 

Trish 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 Chair of the Friends of NIA. Additionally, she serves as 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. Before joining GSA, Trish served as Executive Director for the District of Columbia Board of Pharmacy and Program Manager for the Pharmaceutical Control Division, where she was responsible for the regulatory and policy development for the practice of pharmacy and served as liaison to the FDA, DEA, and other federal, state, and city organizations that promote safe handling of medications. A Pennsylvania native, she received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Duquesne University and her Master of Science in Health Finance and Master in Business Administration with a concentration in health care from Temple University. She completed a residency in administration and finance at The Philadelphia Geriatric Center.

 

Alisha Thompson is a PhD candidate in the School of Social Work at Louisiana State University (LSU). Alisha has been selected as a Huel D. Perkins Diversity Fellow at LSU and an Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW) Pre-Dissertation Fellow in 2022, and she was a 2023 GSA Summer Policy Intern. Thompson is grateful for and humbled by these honors. She recognizes and wholeheartedly embraces the responsibility to serve that comes with such accolades. Her dissertation research focuses on the relationship between community support, self-efficacy, and technology use for social engagement in older Americans with low vision.

 

Bailee Brekke is a second-year graduate student at Miami University working toward earning her master’s degree in gerontological studies. She also is a graduate research assistant in the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University helping conduct various research projects that support older adults. Her research interests surround policies at the state level that help fill gaps in care for older individuals living in the state of Ohio as well as developing initiatives that support people living with dementia and their care partners. Brekke was the first-ever master’s level student to serve as a GSA Summer Policy Intern.

 

Christina Mu is a PhD candidate in the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida. Mu’s research focuses on the individual and joint associations of sleep health and pain on health and well-being outcomes; her dissertation is funded by NIH/NHLBI F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research. As a GSA Summer Policy Intern, she worked on various tasks related to provisions for the Older Americans Act, reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, climate change and aging, Medicare Advantage outcomes, and reframing aging.