Leadership & Staff

  • Tara Cortes

    Tara A. Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN

    Executive Director, Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing; 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.

  • Ab Brody

    Ab Brody, PhD, RN, FAAN

    Associate Director, Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing; 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.

  • Cynthia Chong

    Cynthia Chong, MPA

    Special Projects Manager, Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing

    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.

  • Elizabeth Seidel

    Liz Seidel, MSW

    Project Director, Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing

    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.

  • Brittany A. Hamilton

    Brittany A. Hamilton, MA

    Director of eLearning and Technology, Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing

    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.

  • Diana Ma

    Diana Ma, MHEA

    Budget and Project Administrator, Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing

    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. 

  • Kimberly Hom

    Kimberly Hom, MPA

    Pilot Core Program Officer, NIA IMPACT Collaboratory

    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.

  • Shih-Yin Lin

    Shih-Yin Lin, MM, MPH, PhD

    Senior Research Scientist/Project Director, Aliviado Health

    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.