National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment 2024–2025 Mentorship Program Cohort
h4>About the Program
As the nation’s health system expands its focus on and commitment to improving care for the growing population of older adults, the National Collaboratory to Address Elder Mistreatment (NCAEM) recognizes that improving elder mistreatment identification, intervention, and prevention requires supporting people with a broad range of interests and careers. We are pleased to support this talent pipeline with the annual NCAEM Mentorship Program. Please feel free to contact us (ncaem@edc.org) with questions, scroll down to meet the 2024–2025 NCAEM Mentorship Program Cohort, and meet our prior cohorts from 2023–2024 and 2022–2023.
Meet the 2024–2025 NCAEM Mentorship Program Cohort
We are excited to welcome the new cohort of the NCAEM Mentorship Program. This year’s cohort is composed of professionals from a diverse array of clinical, practitioner, and research backgrounds who are dedicated to addressing elder mistreatment through their work.
Kidest Babi, DNP, AGPNP-BC, is a distinguished nursing professional with over 20 years of experience at LA General Medical Center, where she serves as the sole Nurse Practitioner in Geriatrics. Holding a Doctorate in Nursing, Dr. Babi is deeply committed to patient advocacy, focusing on elder abuse cases. She works collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams, including legal professionals and psychologists to ensure that patients’ rights are upheld and their voices are heard. A recognized leader in the healthcare field, Kidest is currently chairs the Shared Governance Advanced Practice Providers at LA General, where she plays a pivotal role in influencing policy and promoting the hospital’s magnet designation. She also actively contributes to the institution’s cultural development as a member of the hospital’s “Culture Club,” which focuses on enhancing organizational culture. Kidest is a passionate educator and mentor. She volunteers as an assistant Nursing Professor at UCLA and frequently lectures on elder abuse issues and concerns to medical residents, nurses, and social workers. Her dedication to advancing the nursing profession, fostering professional growth, and improving patient care exemplifies her commitment to lifelong learning and excellence in practice. Through her leadership, collaborative approach, and unwavering commitment to education and patient care, Dr. Kidest Babi continues to be an invaluable asset to the healthcare community. Kidest’s mentorship program project focuses on methods of expanding the number of qualified professions that can conduct capacity assessments.
Marykate Byrnes, LCSW CCM HEC-C, is a social worker at the Veterans Health Administration with over 10 years of experience in geriatrics. Throughout her career, she has worked across various settings, primarily within the contract nursing homes, home-based primary care, and currently serves as the Medical Foster Home Program Coordinator in Albany, NY. Marykate is an active member of the National Social Work Elder Justice Implementation Team and holds certification as a Health Care Ethics Consultant. She has developed a passion for aging in place for veterans, ensuring they maintain independence and quality of life as they age. Marykate is driven by the belief that every individual deserves to age with dignity in the comfort and familiarity of their chosen surroundings. Her work is motivated by the desire to ensure that veterans—who have given so much for their country—are able to live their later years with respect, security, comfort, and a strong sense of community. Marykate’s mentorship program project focuses on analyzing differences in care at VA Medical Foster Homes (MFHs) and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in New York State.
Jennifer T. Jones-Minnifield, MSW, LICSW- PIP, is a dedicated Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Board-Approved Supervisor with 19 years of professional experience across various fields, including medical social work, community health, behavioral and mental health care, and veterans’ services. She is licensed in both Alabama and Mississippi. Jennifer currently serves as a board member for *Wholistic Wellness Community* and *Hope In Her*, two nonprofit organizations dedicated to supporting vulnerable and marginalized populations. Jennifer earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Alabama in 2006 and is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Work at Sacred Heart University. At Sacred Heart, she contributes as a Teaching and Graduate Assistant in the School of Social Work. Her passion for helping others is further exemplified by her work with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she serves vulnerable veterans through the Home-Based Primary Care Program. In addition to her role at the VA, Jennifer operates a small mental health private practice in Alabama, offering counseling services to individuals in need. She has been a sought-after speaker, presenting at numerous events focused on women’s health and mental health care. Jennifer is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the National Association of Black Social Workers, reflecting her commitment to community, advocacy, and the advancement of social work. Jennifer’s mentorship program project focuses on advancing education and screening for elder mistreatment in emergency settings.
Chrisy Khatib, LBSW, LAC, is the Deputy Director for Adult Protective Services (APS) for the State of Kansas. She leads the statewide DCF APS team, comprised of ninety-six staff investigating allegations of abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. The role of APS is to advocate for vulnerable adults and support them in the least restrictive setting. She led the revision of the 2021 Adult Protective Services statutes and testified on behalf of HB 2151, creating Kansas elder and dependent adult abuse multidisciplinary teams and a coordinator. Chrisy has been a licensed Social Worker and Addiction Counselor for 25 years. Chrisy was a Kansas Legislature Senior Care Taskforce member in 2023 and currently serves on the Kansas Attorney General’s Elder and Dependent Adult Council. In 2023, she obtained her Gallup Strengths Coach certification and used her strengths to support new initiatives within Kansas APS. Chrisy’s mentorship program project focuses on evaluating the implementation of the Cornell-Penn Interview for Decisional Abilities (IDA) in Kansas.
Catheryn Koss, JD, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Gerontology Department at Sacramento State University where she teaches courses on aging policy and research methods. Her research interests include elder abuse, advance care planning, and diminished capacity. Catheryn is a member of the Gerontological Society of America and a former Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging Fellow. She has an Anthropology BA from Smith College, a law degree from Oklahoma City University, and a Gerontology PhD from the University of Kansas. Catheryn’s mentorship program project focuses on developing a victim-centered criminal justice model for prosecuting elder mistreatment cases.
Traci Lee, MAHS, has worked in the Human Service field for 30 plus years. Traci started her career in housing, youth treatment and working with people with disabilities. For the last several years, Traci has worked for both county and state aging services; in working for Salt Lake County, Traci oversaw a network of 16 senior centers and led the centers to national accreditation. Traci currently works for the State of Utah and serves as a Program Administrator within the Division of Aging and Adult Services. Traci graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and completed her master’s program at Bellevue University with a Masters in Human Service Administration. Traci serves on several boards to include AARP Utah and SLCo Aging. Traci is passionate about advocacy and services for vulnerable populations so individuals can live their best life with self-directed choices. Traci enjoys working in a collaborative effort with aging and disability partners to enhance service provisions and reduce maltreatment amongst vulnerable populations. Traci’s mentorship program project focuses on multi-sector collaboration to develop a wraparound approach to elder mistreatment.
Jane Lowers, PhD, MPA, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Her research focuses on gaps between what people want at the end of life and what is available to them, using a social science lens to examine individual, health system, and societal barriers and opportunities. In particular, her work addresses people who are aging without close family support in the context of dementia. Dr. Lowers shifted to academic research after a career in medical journalism, writing about both clinical and policy developments. She earned a bachelor’s in journalism from Northwestern University, a master’s in public administration with a health policy concentration from Baruch College, and a PhD in palliative care from Lancaster University in England. Jane’s mentorship program project focuses on advanced care planning for adults who are aging solo.
Kelly Marnfeldt, MSG, is a doctoral candidate in Gerontology at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on the intersection of vulnerability, autonomy, and justice for older adults, particularly those living with dementia and those at risk of elder mistreatment. She examines how systems—including health care, social services, and the legal system—shape the rights, safety, and autonomy of older adults, especially those experiencing cognitive impairment.
Her dissertation explores how people with dementia, caregivers, and professionals navigate the tensions between safety and autonomy, and how stigma and ageism further complicate these processes. She is especially interested in how advocacy—both personal and collective—can empower people with dementia to shape their own futures and challenge public narratives that devalue their lives. In addition to her research, Kelly has contributed to community-based projects focused on elder abuse prevention, dementia-inclusive community design, and improving communication between clinicians, people with dementia, and their families. She is committed to research that bridges academic scholarship, policy change, and community action to advance elder justice and promote more inclusive, rights-based approaches to aging. Kelly’s mentorship program project focuses on interdisciplinary and community-based approaches to elder mistreatment prevention.
Kylie Meyer, PhD, MSc, is a Gerontologist and tenure track Assistant Professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and serves as Co-Director of the University Center on Aging and Health. Her aging research career began as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Southampton, followed by doctoral training in Gerontology at the University of Southern California. Dr. Meyer’s research program focuses on psychoeducational interventions to support family caregivers to persons who live with dementia in multiple domains, such as complex medical/nursing care, healthy caregiving relationships, and financial well-being. Her work in elder mistreatment focuses on interventions to prevent psychological mistreatment within family care contexts. She is dedicated to research translation to ensure innovations reach caregiving families. She currently leads an R01 study from the National Institute on Aging to conduct a randomized control trial of the Learning Skills Together complex care support intervention, as well as a feasibility research funded by NIA to integrate AI into caregiver psychoeducation. She has published 37 articles in leading gerontological journals such as The Gerontologist, Journal of Applied Gerontology, and Aging Mental Health. She is an Associate Editor of the newest Alzheimer’s Association journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging. Kylie’s mentorship program project focuses on identifying avenues of elder mistreatment intervention translation and sustainable implementation within service settings.
Debbie Muskwe, LCSW, is the Geriatrics and Extended Care Section Chief for the Social Work Service at James A. Haley VA, located in Tampa, Florida. She earned her Master’s in Social Work in 2011 from the University of South Florida and is currently working on her Doctor of Social Work at Walden University. Mrs. Muskwe has served as the GEC Section Chief since 2022 and previously was the Non-Institutional Care Supervisor, in the GEC Social Work Section. She has worked with different populations over her 14-year social work career, but has found a passion for addressing the gaps in knowledge regarding elder mistreatment in the Veteran population, specifically financial exploitation because of the barriers in access to care the exploitation presents. Debbie’s mentorship program project focuses on implementing an outpatient process for elder mistreatment screening and identification in the VA system.
Megan Nizza, LMSW, is a social worker and current doctoral candidate at Boston University School of Social Work. She received her MSW from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, where her interest in working with older adults began. After a formative experience interning at a senior center in Brooklyn, NY, Megan began working full time as a social worker implementing case management as an advocate and later program supervisor with Maine’s RISE program. As a researcher, her interests are an amalgamation of her past practice experiences – elder mistreatment and self-neglect conceptualization and social work responses, intervention research, social drivers of health, and disparities in aging trajectories. Megan’s mentorship program project focuses on culturally responsive, evidence-based interventions to address self-neglect.
Cassidy Paganucci, BA, is an experienced Victim-Witness Advocate assigned to criminal cases involving elder victims in Placer County District Attorney’s office. She is committed to helping seniors navigate the complexities of the criminal justice system, provide support and connect the victims to resources to promote their wellbeing and restore the victimized. In her current role as an Investigative Assistant, she is dedicated to working with victims of elder mistreatment and knowing the importance of recognizing challenges of aging, mental or physical illnesses and different family dynamics. By using her enthusiasm, proactive approaches and working on an elder-abuse task force team known as PROTECT, she collaborates with community members, government agencies and local senior based non-profits to prevent and support elder victims of crime. PROTECT stands for “Providing Resources and Outreach To Elderly Citizens Together.” She loves engaging with her community, providing presentations and materials to educate and bring awareness of Elder Abuse with a focus on scams targeting senior citizens. Her professional and educational experiences with diverse populations in health care and social settings have equipped her with exceptional skills to offer comprehensive and compassionate services to victims, families, and communities. Ms. Paganucci obtained her Bachelor of Behavioral Sciences and completed numerous trainings, such as mass violence advocacy, crisis response training and attends the California District Attorneys Association’s Elder Symposium. She is now working towards creating and operating the elder mistreatment silo in a future Victim Resource Center based out of the District Attorney’s Office. Her research is centered on preventing and investigating elder abuse to help directly and indirectly reduce the number of elder victims of crime, keeping Placer County a safe place to live, work, retire, and shop. Cassidy’s mentorship program project focuses on establishing a victim support resource center.
Sucharita Paul, MD MPH, is a physician who has made community service, disease prevention, and public health education the center of her career and a focus of her volunteer work. She is currently leading efforts to identify and advocate for vulnerable older adult patients in emergency departments throughout western New York. She also trains emergency medicine residents in exploring areas of public health including global medicine, addiction and the opiate crisis, gun violence, health disparities, and social inequities in medicine. Her interest in serving disadvantaged and low-resource communities has led her to become involved in international emergency medicine work in both Vietnam and India. Dr. Paul’s previous and current board service includes: COVID-19 Working Group of Western New York (medical expert), UBMD Emergency Medicine, UBMD Emergency Medicine Women Physicians Consortium (coordinator), Gates Vascular Institute/Buffalo General Hospital (co-coordinator, Adopt-A-Family Program), the Carole Fenton Memorial Fund (founding member), and the City of Buffalo Emergency Medical Services Board. Sucharita’s mentorship program project focuses on multidisciplinary strategies to improve elder mistreatment identification and prevention in emergency settings.
Mandy Peng, MD, is a geriatric physician and Assistant Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She provides comprehensive, person-centered primary care to older adults with complex medical and psychosocial needs. Dr. Peng serves as the Medical Director of the CU Geriatric Medicine Clinic at Kavod Senior Life, a long-term care community for low-income older adults. She also leads the Health Equity and Advocacy Track of the geriatric fellowship program, mentoring future geriatricians and working to address the social determinants of health through education and community partnership. Her commitment to elder justice is rooted in her broader work advancing health equity and supporting underserved populations. As part of the NCAEM Mentorship Program, Dr. Peng is currently exploring alternatives to guardianship that better serve the needs of vulnerable adults in Colorado. Mandy’s mentorship program project focuses on analyzing current policies relating to elder mistreatment response in Colorado.
Dhyana Velez, MHA BSN GERO-BC GRN, is a board-certified gerontological Registered Nurse in New Jersey with over ten years of dedicated service to older adults. Her passion for geriatrics began during her first clinical rotation at a nursing home, and she has since contributed to leading‐edge programs such as the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE), and the Age-Friendly 4Ms model Since 2022, Dhyana has served as Geriatric Coordinator at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick—a Level 1 trauma center with more than 600 beds. In this role, she expanded HELP across five medical-surgical and telemetry units, manages a team of pre-med students, works in research with the Rutgers Geriatrics department, and spearheads quality improvement initiatives such as “Set to Eat” (encouraging patients to get out of bed for meals) and “Clean Smiles” (enhancing oral hygiene during hospitalization). Dhyana’s mentorship program project focuses on specialized dementia care education for nursing staff.
