Taking Heed of Alzheimer’s Disease: Recognizing and Responding to a Coming Crisis

Fawn A. Cothran, PhD, RN, GCNS-BC, FGSA

Dr. Fawn Cothran is the Hunt Research Director at the National Alliance for Caregiving with 15+ years of experience in dementia family caregiving research and related activities. Dr. Cothran is a nurse scientist and a board-certified gerontological clinical nurse specialist. Dr. Cothran earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She completed a Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in gerontological nursing and a Doctor of Philosophy, both from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She also completed a Claire M. Fagin Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a member of the National Black Nurses Association, and a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing Education.

Niles Godes, JD

Niles has nearly 30 years of experience shaping public policy in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, he served as Senior Vice President of Congressional Affairs for LeadingAge, where he represented 6,000 not-for-profit members that provide health and housing services for older adults. Earlier in his career, Niles served as Democratic Staff Director of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, and as Chief of Staff for Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota.

Niles also spent more than a decade in the private sector representing not-for-profit organizations and companies of all sizes, from small trade associations to Fortune 500 companies.

Jill M. Goldstein, PhD

Jill M. Goldstein, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Founder and Executive Director, Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON-✘) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Helen T. Moerschner Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair in Women’s Health. She is a clinical neuroscientist and expert in understanding sex differences in disorders of the brain and their co-occurrence with general medicine, such as cardiovascular disease.

Her program of research (funded by NIH for >30 years) called Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory of Sex Differences in the Brain, consists of an interdisciplinary team integrating brain imaging, physiology, neuroendocrinology, genetics, immunology, and collaborations with basic scientists. The studies take a lifespan approach, beginning in prenatal development, to understanding the causes of sex differences in the comorbidity of depression, cardiometabolic diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease. She has received numerous awards to support the work, served on scientific advisory boards for women’s health, brain health, and Alzheimer’s disease, and participated in strategic planning for the NIH and National Academy of Medicine.

She spent her career at Harvard training the next generation in women’s health/sex differences in medicine, including leading for >17 years an ORWH-NICHD Harvard-wide K12 junior faculty training program on building interdisciplinary careers in women’s health. In 2018, she launched ICON-✘ at MGH whose mission is to enhance discoveries about sex differences in medicine and incorporate them into developing novel sex-dependent therapies and prevention strategies. In 2020, ICON-✘ was designated an NIH Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences in Medicine, one of only 11 in the U.S.

Brooks Kenny

Brooks Kenny serves as Vice President of Consumer Engagement and Partnerships at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. In this role, she leads consumer-facing platforms and strategic, cross-cutting partnerships that engage people to advance the organization’s mission – beginning with the BrainGuide platform, the latest in a series of brain health education initiatives. She also directs the Women’s Leadership Council – a group of executive women that are spotlighting the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s disease on women. Brooks is a nationally recognized subject matter expert in caregiving and women’s brain health and often speaks with diverse groups on these topics. She has more than two decades of experience in health communications, previously serving as Managing Director at High Lantern Group, a healthcare communications agency, as well as Founding Partner in a technology startup serving family caregivers.