FIU Trudy Gaillard, PhD, CDCES, FAHA is the Project Leader. Associate Professor and Dr. Vanessa von Wertheim Chair of Chronic Disease Prevention and Care at Florida International University. Dr. Gaillard is a Nurse and Health Disparities Researcher whoes research focus on health disparities, metabolic syndrome, mild cognitive impairment and chronic disease prevention using lifestyle interventions in persons of the African Diaspora. She is Principal investigator or a National Institute on Aging study, Florida Statewide Registry for Aging Studies aimed at exploring ways recruit and retain racial/ethnic groups into research by engaging key family members.

UCF Donna Felber Neff, PhD, RN, FNAP. Nurse and health services researcher. Dr. Neff is a Professor, University of Central Florida’s College of Nursing, and has had over 20 years of funded research. Her research focuses on the pursuit of understanding determinants of patient health outcomes and identifying leverage points for improving access to health care for diverse communities. Currently funded by NIA for Florida Registry for Aging Studies, she is a Co-Principal Investigator and a member of a multi-university research team. Specific aims of this study are to identify strategies that promote recruitment and enrollment of diverse older adults (African American, Hispanic/Latino and Caribbean descent) into aging research.

UF

Fern Webb, PhD is a Community Engagement Researcher: is Associate Professor

and research director in the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville’s department of community health and family medicine. Dr. Webb is also an active research member at the UF Center for Health Equity and Quality Research. Her research includes implementing holistic strategies to improve overall health and quality of life for African-Americans. Dr. Webb also directs community research engagement programs to increase community awareness on health research. She is currently involved with federally funded initiatives in telemedicine for patients living with HIV, a weight-loss study for patients who are African-American women, and JAX-Ascent, an aging study.