Dr. Mary Blazek is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Section of Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Notre Dame in 1980, medical school at the University of Illinois in 1984, and residency in psychiatry as well as fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati in 1989. A board-certified geriatric psychiatrist, she practiced for two decades in community mental health and a community general hospital clinic. She forayed into the academic world at the University of Michigan in 2009, with the goal of improving awareness and education regarding mental health needs of the growing percentage of elderly in our population. To that end, she completed a Master of Education in the Health Professions at the Johns Hopkins School of Education in 2015. She applies evidence-based learning theories to optimize curricular design for medical students and residents. She melds her clinical and education interests in training of non-pharmacologic interventions in dementia for clinicians and caregivers in the home and institutional setting. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Blazek serves as the director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic and the director of the Medical Humanities Path of Excellence.

Dr. Kristen Lawton Barry is a Research Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry was the Associate Director of Department of Veterans Affairs National Serious Mental Illness Treatment Research and Evaluation Center (SMITREC) from 1996-2008).  She has a number of active and pending NIH university-based grants and VA grants.  Dr. Barry’s primary research foci include: substance use screening and brief interventions in emergency and primary care medical care settings; substance use problems in older adults; and treatment efficacy for adults with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.  She was the Chair of the SAMHSA Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) # 34, “Brief Interventions and Brief Therapies for Substance Abuse”.  She has extensive experience developing research projects and curricula for research and training projects. She has developed curricula on substance use for the NIAAA targeting training of medical personnel and social workers. 

Dr. Frederic Blow is a Professor and Director of the University of Michigan Addiction Center in the Department of Psychiatry, and a Research Scientist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research at the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System. Since 2001, he has been the first National Huss/Hazelden Endowed Research Chair for Substance Abuse in Older Adults at the Butler Center for Research at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. He is a career researcher and educator in the field of alcohol and substance abuse screening and diagnosis for older adults, alcohol and drug brief interventions in health care settings, eHealth interventions, substance abuse prevention, serious mental illness and concurrent substance abuse, mental health services research, and implementation of evidence-based substance abuse and mental health practices. Dr. Blow has been the PI on numerous federal, state and foundation grants and has published extensively in the areas of substance abuse among the elderly and alcoholism among the elderly, substance abuse screening/treatment and mental health.

Dr. Lynn Etters is a board-certified adult and gerontological nurse practitioner at the University of Michigan. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Madonna University with a focus on cognition and hearing loss in older adults. She obtained her Masters of Science in Nursing at Oakland University. She also completed a fellowship in the Gerontological Nursing Leadership Academy by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. In addition, she brings several years’ experience in behavioral neurology in a multidisciplinary memory clinic. She has expertise in the care of older adults with dementia and their caregivers. She has interest in the assessment and management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.  

Dr. Gerlach graduated from Western University of Health Sciences in California and completed her residency training in psychiatry here at the University of Michigan where she served as cheif resident. Dr. Gerlach was drawn to geriatric psychiatry given the overlap between medicine, psychiatry, and neurology that is inherent in treating older adults with mental health and cognitive disorders. She has found the wisdom, life story, and resiliency shown by her patients and their families to be the most rewarding aspect of her work. Her clinical interests include treatment-resistant depression, neuromodulatory treatments including electroconvulsive therapy, and resident and medical student education. Research areas of interest include psychotropic medication use among older adults and treatment adherence in later-life depression.  

Dr. Amanda Legget’s high school job as a waitress in an assisted living facility led to a passion for gerontology and the study of late-life mental health.  She received her B.A. in Psychology from Queens University of Charlotte and her Masters and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University with a specific focus on individual and family development in late-life.  She has been a fellow at the University of Michigan since the Fall of 2013.  Her research has focused on dementia caregiver management styles, associated stress, and interventions, as well as the intersection between sleep disturbances, psychosocial risk factors and late-life mental health problems such as depression.  Outside of work Amanda enjoys running, volunteering with Hospice and all things theater.  

Dr. Donovan Maust is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School and Research Scientist with the Center for Clinical Management Research of the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. His research, supported by a Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award in Aging, explores the role of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia as drivers of healthcare utilization, with the goal of identifying individuals at high risk for potentially preventable hospitalization. His other primary research and clinical interest is understanding and reducing potentially inappropriate use of psychotropic medication in older adults. Dr. Maust earned his undergraduate degree in biology and international relations from the College of William & Mary and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. He completed psychiatry residency and geriatric psychiatry fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, with further training in health services research at the University of Michigan.  

Dr. Laura Struble is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, School of Nursing. She maintains a clinical practice with the Geriatric Psychiatry team at the University of Michigan as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Struble completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing form Northern Michigan University in 1979, Masters of Science degree in Medical Surgical Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Specialist with a Specialist of Aging certificate from University of Michigan in 1983, PhD in Neuroscience Nursing from University of Michigan in 1995 and a Post-Master’s in the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner program from the University of Michigan in 1996. Dr. Struble has over 30 years of experience as an advance practiced clinician and educator. She is the Gerontology Curriculum Expert for all of the Advanced Practice Nursing Programs at the School of Nursing. The main focus of Dr. Struble’s clinical practice is to diagnose and treat disruptive behaviors in older patients with neurodegenerative diseases, like dementia, as well as mental illness at the Turner Geriatric Clinic and a dementia assisted living facility. She is part of an interdisciplinary team in the Department of Psychiatry that educates nurse practitioner students and medical students in geriatrics and dementia care. Dr. Struble is currently conducting a study on the use of acupuncture as a possible treatment for agitation behaviors in people with middle/late stage dementia. She is also a Site PI for a grant that is examining social interactions that could improve cognitive functions in isolated older adults.  

Dr. Daphne Watkins is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan (U-M) with faculty appointments in the School of Social Work and the School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Her work underscores the social determinants of health that explain within group differences among black men; evidence-based strategies that improve the mental health of black men; and the intersection of race, culture, and gender over the adult life course. After receiving a PhD from Texas A&M University, Dr. Watkins completed a NIMH T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the U-M Institute for Social Research Survey Research Center and a NIH K12 BIRCWH fellowship at the U-M Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has served as a Principal Investigator on several university- and foundation- funded projects and a Co-Investigator on two NIH R01 randomized controlled trials. Her current research involves working with stakeholders to design, implement, and evaluate community-based mental health interventions for marginalized groups of men. Dr. Watkins also has experience applying rigorous qualitative and quantitative research methods, using secondary data in mixed methods studies, and delivering mental health interventions via social media (e.g., Facebook).