David Burnes, PhD

University of Toronto

Dr. Burnes is a Professor at the University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. He holds a Canada Research Chair on Older Adult Mistreatment Prevention. He completed a PhD at Columbia University School of Social, concentrating in gerontology and advanced practice. Dr. Burnes’ program of research focuses on elder mistreatment, including the development of basic knowledge (risk factors, prevalence, severity) and the design, evaluation, and measurement of interventions to prevent and respond to elder mistreatment. He advises major international organizations on elder mistreatment, such as the World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health, as well as federal and regional governments. Dr. Burnes also works with non-profit organizations, such as state-level adult protective services programs, on the development, implementation and measurement of elder mistreatment response and prevention programs. His interest in elder mistreatment stems from both family experience and clinical practice with older adults.

Marie-Therese Connolly, JD

Author, The Measure of Our Age

Marie-Therese Connolly is a writer, lawyer, researcher, policy wonk, MacArthur Foundation Fellow, and president of the Elder Justice Collaborative. Her work focuses on finding better ways to reduce harm and enhance wellbeing and purpose as we age. She’s the author of the upcoming book of nonfiction, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money & Meaning Later in Life coming out in July 2023, that tells the story of elder justice, its people, its roots, and how things change. The book chronicles the work of pioneers in law, medicine, services, forensics, finance, advocacy, policy and meaning-making.

She conceived of and was the original architect of the Elder Justice Act, the first comprehensive federal elder abuse law enacted with the Affordable Care Act in 2010. As founder of the Department of Justice Elder Justice Initiative, she guided theory and strategy in large federal cases against nursing home chains for fraud, abuse, and neglect and worked on a broad array of policy matters. At DOJ, she worked with the National Institute of Justice to launch the first elder abuse research program, still in existence today. She has formed several influential groups, written for academic and mainstream publications, and was the lead author of the Elder Justice Roadmap that helped to shape the 2015 White House Conference on and continues to influence research, education, policy and practice at federal, state and local levels. A graduate of Stanford University and Northeastern University Law School, she lives in Washington, DC.

Patricia F. Kimball, MS, MS

Elder Abuse Institute of Maine

Patricia Kimball is the Executive Director of the Elder Abuse Institute of Maine (EAIME), an organization she has been involved with for 20 years; first as a Board member in 2003 and then as the agency’s first Director in 2016.  Prior to her current role, Patricia was the founding Executive Director the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine. Patricia has worked in the social services field for over 30 years and holds graduate degrees in Human Services Adminstration and Community Economic Development.

As EAIME’s Executive Director, Patricia has led the agency’s involvement in the implementation of RISE in Maine in partnership with Maine Adult Protective Services. As part the agency’s mission to develop, implement, evaluate and sustain novel interventions for older victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation, Patricia and her team are committed to maintaining and forwarding best practices in the field of elder mistreatment and continuing to explore new approaches to best meet the needs of older adults.

Stuart Lewis, MD FACP

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Dr. Lewis is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the Medical Director of Lebanon Center, a skilled nursing and long-term care facility. He is a member of New Hampshire’s Incapacitated and Vulnerable Adult Fatality Review Committee His primary research focus is on how to prevent the mistreatment or abuse of older adults for which he has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Administration for Community Living and other private foundations.

Dr. Lewis received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Columbia University and trained in internal medicine at Bellevue/ NYU. His writings on medicine have appeared in literary journals, The Guardian, The New York Review of Books, and others.

Geoff Rogers, BA

Silberman School of Social Work Hunter College

Geoff Rogers is the Director of the Learning & Development Projects, Silberman School for Social Work, Hunter College. He has more than three decades of professional experience helping individuals and organizations learn, manage, change, and seize new opportunities. Prior to coming to Hunter in 2007, Geoff was Director of Operations for the New York City Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). He has also worked in advertising, publishing, and marketing, and served as a director of special projects, director of training, and director of operations for New York City Adult Protective Services. Geoff’s unusual background spanning creative industries, public administration and management consulting informs his work at Silberman to develop learning opportunities that engage a diverse array of human services professionals. Geoff has a BA in European History and English from Colby College.

Erin Salvo, JD

Public Consulting Group

Erin Salvo is currently a Senior Consultant at Public Consulting Group, where she focuses on improving system outcomes in public sector programs and serves as an APS subject matter expert. She was previously at the Maine Office of Aging & Disability Services, Maine Dept. of Health & Human Services where she was Associate Director of Adult Protective Services within the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. As the APS Associate Director, Erin oversaw the statewide program responsible for conducting APS investigations and administered the public guardianship/conservatorship program. Erin was part of the critical partnership team in launching, implementing and studying the first RISE-APS program. Prior to joining APS in 2017, Erin served as in-house counsel for Maine DHHS’s Office of Aging and Disability Services. Before joining the Department, Erin worked as a trial attorney in Massachusetts and as a law clerk to the Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court. Erin graduated from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business with a bachelor’s degree. She graduated magna cum laude from New England Law – Boston.