Leadership Team
The leadership team is made up members of the following organizations:
BLACK IN GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS (BIGG)
- Aims to address the systemic inequities found in aging research/teaching/practice by focusing on three primary pillars- community, advocacy, and accountability.
- Their work is based on collaboration, support, community engagement, and ally engagement.
- Provide guidance and professional development.
- Create spaces to provide social support for Black people in the aging field
- Strengthen relationships and trust between the aging field and Black communities
HBCU COLLABORATIVE INTEREST GROUP
- To acknowledge the contributions and scholarship of HBCU-trained GSA members
- Recognize the scholarly work of current students, faculty, and staff at HBCUs in the Gerontology/Aging Studies discipline
- Provide opportunities for and increase the visibility of current students, faculty, and staff at HBCUs to network and present their scholarly work at the annual scientific meeting
- Provide opportunities for current HBCU students, faculty, staff, and alumni to become more involved as volunteers and/or leadership positions and to increase membership and participation within the GSA organization.
Leadership
Tamara Baker, PhD.
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Gerontological Society of America’s (GSA) HBCU Collaborative Interest Group
Short Bio
Dr. Tamara Baker is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an appointed member of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Geriatric and Gerontology Advisory Committee, and Editor-in-Chief of Ethnicity & Health. She was recently appointed as a Scientific Committee Member to the National Institutes of Health’s Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee. Dr. Baker’s research broadly focuses on health disparities and health equity, cultural diversity/sensitivity, and social determinants of health among older adults. She received her BA from North Carolina Central University (HBCU) and MA from Norfolk State University (HBCU).
Candidus Nwakasi, PhD. MPH
- University of Connecticut
- Black in Gerontology and Geriatrics
Short Bio
Dr. Candi Nwakasi is an Assistant Professor of Gerontology in Human Development and Family Sciences. His background includes undergraduate training in biochemistry, and graduate training in public health, and social gerontology. His previous work experience before joining academia spanned medical, pharmaceutical, and non-profit sectors.
He is a co-founder of Black in Gerontology and Geriatrics (BIGG), an organization that works to amplify the voices and efforts of Black people in the field of aging. He serves on the board of PACE-RI, and the editorial board of Journal of Aging Studies. With a focus on aging disadvantaged populations, Candi’s research includes cancer survivorship, cognitive decline and caregiving, and sociocultural factors influencing health care access.
Darlingtina Esiaka, Ph.D., CPG, CPH
- University of Kentucky College of Medicine
- Black in Gerontology and Geriatrics
Short Bio
Darlingtina Esiaka, PhD, CPG, CPH, is a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University. She has a dual-title Ph.D. in Social Psychology and Gerontology from the University of Kansas, a Masters in Psychology from Arkansas Tech University with Distinction, Graduate certificates in Health Psychology and African Studies from the University of Kansas, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with First class honors and a Diploma in Social Works from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her research interests revolve around two major themes. One focuses on the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in aging Black people. She examines how to detect progression and conversion to ADRD, long before the presentation of behavioral symptoms. The second focuses on the early detection of cancer in older Black people. She investigates psychosocial factors that predict fatal stage cancer diagnosis and survivorship in Black people.
Administrative Assistant
Jordan Dudley
Short Bio
A recent graduate from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, specializing in health and the determinants of well-being. As a dedicated scholar and advocate, I am deeply passionate about understanding the intricate relationship between societal structures, individual behaviors, and overall health outcomes.
Oversight Board
Ashley Jennings
Short Bio
Dr. Ashley Jennings is a Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Gerontology in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Bethune-Cookman University. Dr. Jennings’ has an extensive background in higher education and community engagement. Merging her passion for health and serving the community, she focuses on initiatives that provide education and resources to older adults and caregivers of underserved populations. Dr. Jennings’ research has addressed the impact of Historically Black Colleges & Universities to include health disparities, social impact, and food insecurity. Dr. Jennings’ professional affiliations include the National Council of Certified Dementia Care Practitioners. ElderSource Advisory Council and Vice President of the ElderSource Institute Board of Directors. She is a member of the Gerontological Society of America, where she is an HBCU Interest Group leader. A member of the Southern Gerontological Society and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® and a plethora of community service organizations.
Topics of Interest: Gerontology Education, Caregiving, HBCUs, LGBTQ+
DR. DAVID ECKERDT
- Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Gerontology, University of Kansas.
Short Bio
David Ekerdt conducts research on work and retirement; residential relocation and possession downsizing; and older adults’ imagination of and expectations for the future. He served as 2018 President of the Gerontological Society of America.
DR. TIFFANY WASHINGTON
- University of Georgia Associate Professor
- Alumni of North Carolina A&T State University (HBCU)
Short Bio
Dr. Washington is an associate professor at the University of Georgia. Her medical social work practice background informs her research interests in family caregiving, psychosocial interventions, and health equity.
DR. FAYRON EPPS
- Undergrad from Tuskegee University and PhD from Southern University and A & M College (HBCUs)
- Current position and affiliation —Associate Professor of Nursing, Emory University
Short Bio
Fayron Epps, PhD, RN, is a nurse with over 20 years of experience creating culturally relevant programs to reduce health disparities for underserved populations. She is currently serving as an Associate Professor and the Director of Community and Research Engagement in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, Southern Gerontological Society, and Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Epps’ ultimate goal is to place culturally-tailored evidenced-based programs and interventions in the hands of those individuals who need them the most.
DR. ADESOLA OGUNNIYI
- Professor of Medicine (Neurology), COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN, NIGERIA
Short Bio
Dr. Ogunniyi is a retired Professor of Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, and a Consultant Neurologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. He is a fellow of the West African College of Physicians and the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Edinburgh and London. As a clinician, researcher, and neuroepidemiologist with an interest in cross-cultural studies of dementia.
DR. ROLAND THORPE
Short Bio
Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., PhD, MS, is a Professor in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Founding Director of the Program of Men’s Health Research in the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions (HCHDS), Deputy Director of HCHDS, and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease RCMAR at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health. He holds joint appointments in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology in the Department of Medicine, and the Department of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Department of Sociology at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Thorpe is a social epidemiologist whose research focuses on the association of how social determinants of health impact health and functional outcomes among men across the life course. Dr. Thorpe earned a bachelor’s in theoretical mathematics from Florida A&M University.
DR. AISHAH SCOTT
- Undergrad from TuskegeAssistant Professor of Health Sciences and Black Studies at Providence College. e University and PhD from Southern University and A & M College (HBCUs)
Short Bio
Dr. Aishah Scott is a joint appointed Assistant Professor of Black Studies and Health Science at Providence College. She is an advocate for social justice and closing gaps in healthcare for underrepresented communities. Currently, she is working on her book manuscript entitled, Respectability Can’t Save You: The AIDS Epidemic in Urban Black America. This work focuses on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Black American community and the role of “respectability politics,” or moral policing, on state and community leaders from 1980-2010.