Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Community Public Health in the School of Nursing with joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry and Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University. She is the founding director of the Center for Innovative Care in Aging at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. The Center seeks to develop, test, and implement novel services, programs, and models that advance and support the well-being of diverse older adults, their families, and communities; enhance the yield of programs, policies, practices, and tools; and provide mentorship and research training in behavioral intervention research. Dr. Gitlin has been involved in behavioral intervention research for close to 30 years. Throughout these years, she has worked collaboratively with health and human service professionals and community agencies to develop and test a wide range of behavioral interventions. Her programs of research are multifold and include psychosocial, behavioral, and environmental approaches to address challenges of aging including physical disability, depressive symptoms, neuropsychiatric behaviors, and family caregiving. Dr. Gitlin is nationally and internationally recognized in these areas and a well-funded researcher, having received continuous funding from federal agencies and private foundations to test interventions. Some of these interventions have been translated for implementation in a variety of settings including home care, adult day care, hospitals, and senior centers. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, and is a coauthor of a research text on quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, a book on the environmental skill–building intervention for family caregivers, a book on physical function in older adults, and a guide booklet for families challenged by behavioral symptoms common in persons with dementia.
She is a well-funded researcher, having received continuous research and training grants from federal agencies and private foundations for close to 28 years. A theme throughout her research is applying a social ecological perspective and a person-directed approach as well as collaborating with community organizations and health professionals to maximize the relevance and impact of intervention strategies. She is also involved in translating and implementing her team’s proven interventions for delivery in different practice settings globally and in the United States.
Dr. Gitlin is a recipient of numerous awards including the 2009 Eastern Pennsylvania Geriatric Society Charles Ewing Presidential Award for outstanding contribution to geriatric care; the 2010 United Way Champion Impact Award for Healthy Aging at Home; the 2010 National Institute of Senior Centers Award with Center in the Park; the 2010 MetLife Award for translating the Skills2Care Program (a dementia caregiver intervention program) with Fox Rehabilitation (a home health agency); the 2011 John Mackey Award for Excellence in Dementia Care from Johns Hopkins University; and the 2014 M. Powell Lawton Award from the Gerontological Society of America.
Sara J. Czaja, PhD, is a Leonard M. Miller Professor of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with joint appointments in Psychology and Industrial Engineering at the University of Miami. She is also the scientific director of the Center on Aging at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the director of the Center on Research and Education for Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE). CREATE is funded by the National Institute on Aging and involves collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Florida State University. The focus of CREATE is on older adults and their interactions with technology systems in work, health care, and everyday living domains. A particular emphasis is on how technology can be used as a mechanism for the delivery of interventions to foster independence among older people.
Dr. Czaja has extensive experience in aging research and a long commitment to developing intervention strategies to improve the quality of life for older adults and their families. She has been an active researcher in this area for more than 25 years. Her specific areas of research include aging and cognition; aging and health care informatics; family caregiving; older workers; training; and functional assessment. She brings a unique focus to these issues with her combined background in engineering and the behavioral sciences. She has broad experience with research methodologies in both laboratory and field settings and with translational research. She has received extensive funding from the National Institutes of Health as well as other federal agencies and foundations for her research. Dr. Czaja is very well published in the field of aging, and has written numerous book chapters and scientific articles. She has also collaborated with community organizations, health care providers, and with industry. She recently coauthored a book with other members of the CREATE team concerning the design of technology systems for older adult populations, and a book on training older adults. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Gerontological Society of America. In addition, she is the current president of Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging) of the American Psychological Association. She is also a member of the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Board on Human Systems Integration.