Donation
Leadership & Staff
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Tara A. Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA
Executive Director & Professor of Geriatric Nursing, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Dr. Cortes’ distinguished career spans executive leadership, nursing education, research and practice. She has provided significant contributions to advancing health care, particularly for those people with limited access to the health care system. Significantly, she has developed collaborative models with advanced practice nurses and physicians in traditional as well as non-traditional settings to enhance the care of the American older adult population.
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Ab Brody, PhD, RN, FAAN
Associate Director, Mathy Mezey Professor of Geriatric Nursing, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and NYU Langone Health, Founder, Aliviado Health, & Pilot Core Lead, NIA IMPACT Collaboratory
Dr. Brody is a board certified geriatric nurse practitioner with clinical expertise and current practice in house calls and inpatient geriatric consult services. Dr. Brody’s research and scholarship activities focus on the intersection of geriatrics and palliative care as he seeks to improve the quality of life, quality of care, and patient outcomes for older adults living in the community.
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Cynthia Chong, MPA
Special Projects Manager
Ms. Chong’s background includes overseeing departmental and public administration. Her passion is promoting health education by working with community organizations and local agencies to increase health literacy.
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Liz Seidel, MSW
Project Director
Ms. Seidel is a social worker with a background in community-based research, health education, and curriculum development focusing on behavioral health and chronic illness in vulnerable populations. Ms. Seidel’s role at HIGN includes project management, curriculum development and editing, grant writing, and serving as the Try This series editor.
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Brittany A. Hamilton, MA
Director of Online Learning and Technology
Ms. Hamilton plans, designs, and creates innovative digital learning experiences based on theories of digital learning and best practices in instructional design. She manages the HIGN eLearning platform, website, and all other instructional technologies utilized by the institute.
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Diana Ma, MHEA
Budget and Project Administrator
Ms. Ma has a background in budget and project management. In her previous role she was employed at a teaching hospital in the Department of Nursing Professional Development and Education and was involved in the administration of the Nurse Residency Program. She oversees the financial operations and is responsible for implementing the marketing and communications plan for HIGN.
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Shula Adelman, MA
Learning Designer
Ms. Adelman is a Learning Designer with a background in using playful design, and design best practices combined with learning and cognitive theories. She develops courses and curriculum, and helps to manage the HIGN Learning Management System.
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Shih-Yin Lin, MM, MPH, PhD
Senior Research Scientist/Project Director
Dr. Lin is a music therapist with research training in nursing science, health services, health informatics, and music therapy. In addition to facilitating the implementation and dissemination of the Aliviado Dementia Care program, Dr. Lin also engages in research activities focusing on promoting early detection, prevention, and management of delirium superimposed on dementia, as well as health informatics-based intervention for older adults and their families.
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Kimberly Hom, MPA
Pilot Core Program Officer
Ms. Hom is the Program Officer for the Pilot Studies Core of the IMPACT Collaboratory which funds and guides pilot embedded pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) among people living with dementia and care partners within health care systems into full-scale ePCTs. She manages the solicitation and reviews of pilot study proposals for ePCTs of non-pharmacological interventions for dementia care.
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Aditi Durga
Project Manager-Aliviado/ED LEAD
Ms. Aditi Durga is a Project Manager for the Aliviado Team who leads the development of Nurse-Led Telephonic Care (NLTC) as part of the ED-LEAD grant (Emergency Departments LEading the transformation of Alzheimer’s and Dementia care). Her role includes managing Salesforce and automating processes to enhance efficiency. She is also a certified Scrum Master.
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Ariana Emami, MPH
Project Coordinator
Ms. Ariana Emami serves as the Project Coordinator for the Nurse-Led Telephonic Care within ED-LEAD (Emergency Departments Leading the Transformation of Alzheimer's and Dementia Care). In her role, she supports telephonic nurses and tracks the progress of the study to ensure its success. Ms. Emami is also passionate about enhancing healthcare access and improving health literacy for underserved populations.
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Eunjung Ko, PhD, AGPCNP-BC, RN
Postdoctoral Associate
Dr. Eunjung Ko is a postdoctoral associate and also serves as a project manager for Dr. Bei Wu and Dr. Mittelman’s research project entitled “New York University Caregiver Intervention–Enhanced Support (NYUCI-ES).” Her research and passion focuses on the adult population, dementia caregiving, caregivers’ health, intervention implementation, and minority populations, particularly Asian Americans.
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Shahrzad Siamdoust, MPH
Research Coordinator
Ms. Siamdoust is a research coordinator with a background in epidemiology. She currently serves as the study coordinator for the multi-site clinical trial, Care Partner Assisted Intervention to Improve Oral Health for Individuals with Mild Dementia and as the project manager for Measuring What Matters: Incorporating Person-Centered Outcomes in Adult Day Services to Identify Mechanisms Supporting Quality of Life in Diverse Persons with Dementia. In these roles, she oversees clinical trial coordination, manages research projects, and ensures regulatory compliance.
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Andreina Jimenez, MPH
Project Manager
Ms. Andreina Jimenez, is a Project Manager and health service researcher focusing on long-term community based health care services and health disparities. She has managed several studies that focus on the effectiveness of long-term community based health care services for older adults living with dementia, nursing home quality care outcomes measures, staffing outcomes, and more recently lifestyle intervention for Black adults with chronic conditions.
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Agnes Leong, LMSW
Licensed Social Worker
Ms. Agnes Leong is a licensed social worker specializing in supporting Chinese American dementia caregivers. With nearly a decade of experience working with Chinese American older adults, she provides individual and family counseling on dementia caregiving as part of Dr. Bei Wu's team. Her research focuses on improving the quality of care in nursing homes for minority populations.
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Ju Hye Jung, LMSW, LMSW
Licensed Social Worker
Ms. Ju Hye Jung is a licensed social worker specializing in supporting Korean American dementia caregivers. She provides individual and family counseling on dementia caregiving as part of Dr. Bei Wu's team. Her research interests focus on developing culturally sensitive mental health recovery strategies for minority populations.
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Aasha Raval, MPH, BDS
Research Associate
Ms. Aasha Raval has a background in Dentistry and Epidemiology. She currently serves as a Research Associate on several studies led by Dr. Jasmine Travers. In this role, she supports project operations, handles survey administration and recruitment, and oversees data analyses. Ms. Raval is passionate about improving the health and well-being of older adults, particularly those living with dementia.