USC Age Tech Symposium

Featured Speakers

Pinchas Cohen, MD is the Dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Executive Director of the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center, and holder of the William and Sylvia Kugel Dean’s Chair in Gerontology. A USC Distinguished Professor, he also holds joint appointments at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and in the Department of Biological Sciences at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. As dean, Cohen is leading several new initiatives at the USC Leonard Davis School, including a major focus on technology and aging as well as the creation of tools for personalized aging, an approach using genomics to individualize healthy aging strategies.

Cohen is an internationally recognized expert on healthy aging and longevity and is an expert in the study of mitochondrial microproteins and their therapeutic potential for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases related to aging. He also holds several patents for novel peptides and is the cofounder of CohBar, a biotechnology company developing mitochondrial peptides for diabetes. Cohen has received numerous awards for his research, including a National Institute of Aging “EUREKA” Award and the National Institutes of Health Director Transformative RO1 Grant. He also received the American Federation of Aging Research Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction and the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Gerontological Society of America.

Yannis Yortsos, PhD is Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and holder of the Zohrab Kaprielian Dean’s Chair in Engineering, a position he has held since 2005. Yortsos joined the USC faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in 1978. His research area is in fluid flow, transport, and reaction processes in porous media with specific application to the subsurface. More recently, and prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, he has published on the spreading of epidemics.

Yortsos was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2008, where he has also served as secretary, vice-chair, and chair of Section 11 and as a member of the NAE Council (2017-2023). In 2010, he organized and hosted the NAE Second Grand Challenges Summit, and he continues to serve on the organizing committee of the bi-annual Global Grand Challenges Summits hosted by the NAE, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In 2013, he was elected an Associate Member of the Academy of Athens. In 2022, he received the Gordon Prize from the Academy for co-founding the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. In 2008, he articulated the concept of Engineering+, positioning engineering as the enabling discipline of our times, and spearheaded in 2015 an engineering diversity initiative that more than 250 engineering schools now adopt. For his leadership in this area, he received the 2023 Great Minds in STEM Chairman’s Award.

Steven D. Shapiro MD is the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs at the University of Southern California. He oversees all health-related entities for USC which includes clinical care, education and research represented by USC’s academic health system, Keck Medicine of USC, as well as the USC health sciences schools: the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, and the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy.

Shapiro works closely with USC’s senior leadership and is a member of the USC Health System Board, the governing body over Keck Medicine and all clinical care activities at USC. His priority is to accelerate health sciences innovation across the university through combining AI-driven technologies with transformative, compassionate patient care.

Keren Etkin, MAG is a gerontologist, entrepreneur, creator of TheGerontechnologist™ and author of The AgeTech Revolution, a book about the intersection of tech and aging. Etkin started her career in community services for older adults, before transitioning into tech when she was recruited to Intuition Robotics as the company’s first employee and only gerontologist. During her time at Intuition Robotics, she realized there were many wonderful startups developing awesome products for older adults and created TheGerontechnologist™ website.

Currently, Etkin is the founder/director of AgeLabIL, an interdisciplinary research and development center at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art in Ramat Gan, Israel. She advises early stage AgeTech startups and elder care organizations looking to bring innovation into their organizations, she runs the AgeTech Academy and give keynotes about AgeTech. Her work has been featured on publications such as the American Society on Aging’s Generations Today journal. Previously, Etkin co-founded Sensi.Ai, which developed the first and only AI-based solution for remote care monitoring in the long-term care industry.

Jonathan Bandel is the Managing Director, Global Ecosystem & Investment Process at 22Health Ventures. As the Managing Director, Global Ecosystem & Investment Process, Jonathan leads the development and engagement of 22Health Ventures’ strategic partnerships, manages the investment process, and supports fundraising activities.

Prior to joining 22Health, Jonathan served as the Chief Innovation Officer at White Plains Hospital, where he created East Post Road Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund focused on investing in and deploying early-stage digital health technologies across the care delivery system. For this work, Jonathan was named a Top 25 Emerging Leader by Modern Healthcare, and his team was recognized with Plug and Play Health’s Corporate Innovation Award and Westfair’s annual Doctors of Distinction Award for telehealth.

Jonathan brings 20 years of healthcare industry and consulting experience to 22Health. Before joining White Plains Hospital, Jonathan held a range of strategy and operations roles at the Hospital for Special Surgery, NYU Lutheran, Northwell, Kaleida Health, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Kurt Salmon. He currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service at New York University, where he teaches courses on Strategy, Healthcare Entrepreneurship, and Hospital Operations Simulation.

Jonathan earned his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, his MPA in Health Policy and Management from the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and his MS in Finance from the Baruch College Zicklin School of Business. Jonathan is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

David Bates, PhD is the CEO and Co-Founder of Linus Health. He is a scientist, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and investor. David was a founding partner of Tamarisc Ventures and he co-founded Bode, a tech-enabled hospitality company for group travel. He is on the board of several technology companies as well as the philanthropic TMCity Foundation. David has previously held positions at Morningside Ventures, F-Wave, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Louisville, and Georgia Tech. David earned his PhD in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the University of Auckland and earned his BS and MSc in Applied Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He resides in Boston with his wife and kids.

Sean P. Curran, PhD is a Professor of Gerontology and Molecular and Computational Biology and the Vice Dean, Dean of Faculty and Dean of Research for the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He is co-director of the USC-Buck Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. Curran developed the first-of-its-kind PhD in Geroscience program, which recruited its inaugural class in 2024.

Curran’s research group has invested in defining molecular, genetic, and environmental factors that impact multiple parameters of health (resistance to environmental and dietary stress, mobility, metabolism, reproductive-fitness, and mitochondrial function) throughout life. The long-term goal is to generate blueprints that allow an individual to maximize health over the course of their lifespan. Informed by genetics, Curran’s lab develops the capacity to predict which diets are ideal for a healthy life and which should be avoided.

Curran is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and is the 2025 Vice Chair (Chair in 2026) of the GSA Biological Sciences Section. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the AFAR Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star in Aging Research Award, Paul F. Glenn Award, the Nathan Shock New Investigator Award (GSA), and the Ewald W. Busse Research Award. Curran’s mentoring has been recognized by the Mellon Foundation, and in 2019 he received the USC Provost’s Mentoring Award. He received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UCLA and post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Jacqueline Dupont, MSG, MPA, PHD, EDD, DLAS is CEO and founder of Senior Care Map, Inc. She is the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Dupont Residential Care, Inc., Assured In-Home Care, Inc., and former partner/owner of Vista Gardens, LLC. In 2020, she donated Dupont Residential Care, Inc. to Alzheimer’s Orange County.

Dupont brings more than 30 years of professional experience working with older adults and the Alzheimer’s community, in addition to serving on several boards and nonprofits. She received the 2010 University of California, Irvine MIND Philanthropy Award for outstanding service to UCI MIND, and in 2022 she was awarded Outstanding Philanthropist by AFP and National Philanthropy Award. She is currently serving on the Board of Trustees at the University of San Diego and serving on the Board of Councilors at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. She is currently on her fifth term of service (20+ years) on the Board of the Alzheimer’s Association, Orange County Chapter, now Alzheimer’s Orange County.

Dupont graduated from the University of San Diego with a BS in Neurosciences, received her two master’s degrees in Gerontology and Public Administration from USC, and received her PhD in Psychology from Ashbourne College. She also graduated from USC with her EDD in Organizational Leadership and Development, and in 2024 she graduated with her Doctorate in Longevity Arts and Sciences from the USC Leonard Davis School.

Peter Elbaor is the co-founder and CEO of Ayla AI, a proactive AI assistant designed to help older adults age in place. With 15 years of experience in product innovation, he has led teams at startups and Fortune 50 firms, building and scaling products in enterprise software, digital media, and assistive technology. Motivated by personal experiences with aging parents and fragmented caregiving systems, Elbaor founded Ayla to develop practical, human-centered AI solutions to promote healthy aging.

An expert in AI and machine learning-based product development and human-computer interaction, Elbaor specializes in natural language processing, large language model orchestration, and big data analytics. He holds a degree in Finance from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and is passionate about designing AI that is ethical, effective, and integrated into everyday life.

Francesca Falzarano, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. She is a developmental psychologist whose research is focused on the intersection of technology and dementia care, with a particular emphasis on enhancing the mental health and well-being of family caregivers. Motivated by her personal experiences with caregiving, her research adopts a developmental perspective to examine the diverse and transitory needs of dementia caregivers through the entire illness trajectory from diagnosis, progression, to death and into bereavement. Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, Falzarano investigates how caregivers’ needs vary based on a myriad of factors including demographic, contextual, and interpersonal dynamics. She also focuses on examining technology as a mechanism to foster mental health and well-being among dementia family caregivers.

James Finley, PhD is an Associate Professor and Director of the Locomotor Control Laboratory within the USC Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy. The primary objective of Finley’s research is to better understand how locomotion is controlled and adapted in both the healthy and injured neuromuscular system. The lab develops theoretical models and experiments based on principles of neuroscience, biomechanics, and exercise physiology to identify the factors that guide learning and rehabilitation. Ultimately, the goal of Finley’s work is to design novel and effective interventions to improve locomotor control in individuals with injury to the nervous system.

Cesar Garcia is CEO and Founder of itracHEALTH™, an early stage healthcare technology company focused on the design and commercialization of potentially life-changing home health products. He is a seasoned executive, entrepreneur and inventor with more than 40 years of experience in healthcare. Prior to itracHEALTH, he was Chairman/CEO of IRIS International and has held executive level positions and/or board seats at Bayer Healthcare, Datascope, Cytometrics, IRIS and BioFire. He has served as corporate director in public and private companies and trade organizations.

Garcia has successfully led the design and global commercialization of many novel medical devices, including lab diagnostic systems, patient monitors, cardiac assist devices and Internet of Medical Things products. During the last 10 years he has been focused on the study of gerontology and the deployment of technology to advance complex chronic care at home. Garcia holds patents in medication management systems, and his most recent invention, eNURSE® with medIQ, was selected as a 2023 Feature Finalist in the International Design Excellence Awards sponsored by the Industrial Design Society of America.

Garcia is a professional engineer with a BSIE (Cum Laude) from University of Puerto Rico and an Advanced Management Certificate from Pace University. He is an NACD Board Leadership Fellow.

Andrew Hotchkiss is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sensorum Health, a tech-enabled healthcare services company focused on preventing avoidable hospitalizations and helping older adults with chronic conditions maintain their independence for as long as possible.

Andrew started in healthcare at Flatiron Health in Revenue Cycle Operations, after serving 11 years as an active-duty officer in the US Navy. He holds a BS from the United States Naval Academy and lives in New York City.

Mark Humayun, MD, PhD is a University Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering, holder of the Cornelius J. Pings Chair in Biomedical Sciences, Director of the USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics and Co-Director of the USC Roski Eye Institute.

Humayun has devoted much of his career to clinical and scientific research in ophthalmology and bioengineering. With the goal of creating the world’s first artificial retina, he assembled a team of world experts with a wide range of proficiency, including biomedical engineering, computer science, medicine, chemistry, biology and business. In clinical trials since 2007 and approved by the FDA in 2013, the Argus II retinal implant represents the culmination of a visual restoration strategy that offers an unprecedented degree of sight to those with complete retinal blindness. He was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering for his pioneering work to restore sight.

With over 300 publications and more than 140 patents and patent applications, Humayun has received several research awards, including the 2005 Innovator of the Year award. He was also featured as one of the top 10 inventors in Time Magazine in 2013, voted as one of the Best Doctors in America for three years, and was listed as one of the top 1% of doctors by U.S. News & World Report. In 2016, Humayun received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama for his innovative work and development of the Argus II.

Paul Irving, JD is a senior advisor at the Milken Institute, a national advisor at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a law and consulting firm, and a distinguished scholar-in-residence at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. He previously served as the Milken Institute’s president and founding chair of its Center for the Future of Aging, an advanced leadership fellow at Harvard University, and chair and CEO of the Manatt firm.

Author/editor of “The Upside of Aging: How Long Life Is Changing the World of Health, Work, Innovation, Policy, and Purpose,” a Wall Street Journal expert panelist and contributor to the Harvard Business Review, PBS NextAvenue, and Forbes, Irving speaks and writes about population aging, public health, finance, and investment and innovation in the longevity economy.

Irving is a director and chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of East West Bancorp, Inc. and a member of the International Strategic Committee of the Quadrivio Group Silver Economy Fund. Chair emeritus and a member of the board of CoGenerate, Irving also serves as a senior advisor at CWI Labs and serves on the Board of Councilors of the USC Leonard Davis School, the Advisory Board of WorkingNation, and the National Academy of Medicine Global Commission on Healthy Longevity. Irving previously served on the Global Advisory Council of Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute, the Bipartisan Policy Center Senior Health and Housing Task Force and as a participant in the 2015 White House Conference on Aging.

Bong-Keun Jung, OTD is a Professor (Research) at Seoul National University. He is a distinguished researcher and educator with 14 years of experience in teaching and research in rehabilitation and assistive technology. Specializing in wearable robotics and AI-driven solutions for aging and healthcare, he holds over 40 patents and has successfully commercialized innovative products for older adults. He has secured multi-million dollars in research funding and served in leadership roles, including Director of the ICT Convergence RERC and Chief Operating Officer at the Soft Robotics Research Center. Jung actively contributes to global initiatives through the WHO, UN, and as Chair of the Health Economics Subcommittee at the International Industry Society of Advanced Rehabilitation Technology. His work focuses on advancing lifespan health and promoting inclusive, technology-driven care solutions.

Scott A. Kaiser MD is the CEO of Determined Health, a company he co-founded with a vision for a new approach to community care—one that starts with human connection, first. Kaiser is a board-certified family physician and geriatrician with executive leadership experience focused on the improvement of aging services, geriatric care, and population health. Engaged in clinical care, teaching, community outreach, advocacy, and research, Kaiser is the Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, an adjunct faculty member of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations. He is determined to solve healthcare’s greatest challenges and create healthy communities that support us all in living well and aging well.

Kaiser completed his undergraduate studies at Vassar College with a degree in Science, Technology, and Society, and received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He went on to train within the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency, the Harvard Geriatric Medicine Fellowship, and the UCLA Health Services Research Fellowship.

David Krane is CEO and Managing Partner at GV. He balances his time between directing GV’s global activities and leading investments. He is most excited by consumer-focused entrepreneurs working to improve critical aspects of our daily lives. His investments include early checks into Uber, StockX, Nothing, Nest, The Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Blue Bottle Coffee.

After early career stops at Qualcomm and Apple, Krane joined Google in 2000 (as employee number 84) and is recognized as a key architect of the early culture and brand. Within a few fast-paced years, he had risen to lead Google’s global communications and public affairs group and was part of the senior leadership team that guided the company’s growth into a multibillion-dollar global enterprise.

Krane is a Young Presidents’ Organization member and a long-time advisor to the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He received his Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Indiana University-Bloomington and has held board roles at MGM Studios (recently sold to Amazon) and the Dean’s advisory board for the IU School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. He was named The Center for Conscientious Leadership’s 2024 “Leader of the Year” and featured on Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2025 “Power 100” list. He also received the Ellis Island Honor Society’s 2024 Ellis Island Medal of Honor award, recognizing acclaimed Americans of immigrant descent for distinguished character and contributions to business and society.

Gianluca Lazzi, PhD, MBA is Provost Professor of Ophthalmology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clinical Entrepreneurship, and Biomedical Engineering and holds the Fred H. Cole Professorship in Engineering at USC. He was a USTAR Professor and the Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Utah from 2009 to 2017.

Lazzi’s research work has been sponsored by several US federal agencies, including NIH, NSF, and DOE. He has made contributions to fields of bioelectromagnetics, liquid metal electronics, antennas, wireless electromagnetics, magnetic neurostimulation, and computational neuroscience. For the past 20 years he has been working on an artificial retina to restore partial vision to the blind; he is currently the principal investigator of an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported research effort on “Multiscale Modeling for Neural Excitation.”

Lazzi is a Fellow of the iEEE and the AIMBE, and he has published over 200 papers in journals, conference proceedings, and books. His research work has been featured in publications such as Forbes, the Economist, MSNBC, MIT Technology Review, and several others. He is one of the co-founders of Teveri LLC and served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2015 to 2017. Teveri focuses on the commercialization of stretchable conductive fibers knitted in clothing and athletic apparel to bring biometric, sensing and illumination solutions to smart clothing.

Joelle Poe MBA is a Partner and Chief Transformation Officer at Senior Living Transformation Company (SLTC), a real estate investment platform for senior living that is transformation the capital and care models for the seniors in these communities. Prior to joining SLTC she was the co-founder and CEO of Centered Care, a tech-enabled, integrated healthcare platform empowering senior living communities and healthcare providers to deliver better care in these communities. Prior to SLTC and Centered Care, she led product for several healthcare companies focused on seniors, including Alignment Health. Poe has an BA in Economics and Business from George Mason University and an MBA from the University of Oregon. She lives in Denver, Co.

Amir Dan Rubin, MBA, MHSA is CEO and Founding Managing Partner of Healthier Capital and has focused his career on helping transform healthcare. He launched Healthier Capital to partner with technology-powered innovators to advance healthier outcomes for all. He previously served as Chair and CEO of the technology-enabled primary care company One Medical, which he took public in 2020 and sold to Amazon for $3.9B in the beginning of 2023. At Amazon, he helped launch One Medical’s membership model as an add-on to Amazon Prime membership.

Prior to that, Rubin served as an EVP at the Fortune 5 company UnitedHealth Group and its Optum division. Prior to that, he served as CEO at Stanford University’s health system, COO at UCLA’s health system, COO at SUNY Stony Brook’s health system, and in leadership roles at Memorial Hermann’s health system. He has also twice received an EY “Entrepreneur of the Year” award. He holds MBA and MHSA degrees from the University of Michigan and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Martin Schiller, PhD is the CEO and Founder of Heligenics, Inc. He has a PhD in Biochemistry from Utah State University. He has been on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Connecticut Health Center, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he is the founding director of the Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine. He has produced several significant discoveries in the experimental and computational aspects of functional genomics, including the invention of the GigaAssay. He has published 85 research papers supported by 26 research grants with continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Keyue Shen, PhD is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Shen received his Bachelor of Engineering (summa cum laude) in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Science in Biophysics from Tsinghua University of China. He earned his PhD (with Distinction) in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University in 2010. He then pursued postdoctoral training in the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he won an MGH Fund for Medical Discovery Award.

Shen joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at USC in January 2015. He has since received a Marni Levine Memorial Research Development Award from STOP CANCER, a Trailblazer Award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a Rose Hills Research Fellowship from USC. His research is also supported by the Phi Beta Psi Trust Fund. His research interests are in developing in vitro microengineered models of cell microenvironments in immune system, cancer, and stem cell niches, for applications in immune and cancer therapeutics, as well as cell/tissue regeneration.

Peter Wang, PhD holds the Dwight C. and Hildagarde E. Baum Chair in Biomedical Engineering and is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Wang obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanics and fluid mechanics from Peking University in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He received his PhD in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering in 2002 and continued his postdoctoral work at UC San Diego working under Professor of Bioengineering Shu Chien and Professor Roger Y. Tsien in the Department of Pharmacology. Before joining USC in 2023, he was a faculty of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and UC San Diego.

He is a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), and Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). Wang is the recipient of the Wallace H. Coulter Early Career Award (both Phase I and Phase II), the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and National Institutes of Health Independent Scientist Award. His research is on cellular and molecular engineering for live cell imaging and controllable cell-based therapy. His lab is supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and private foundations.

Chris Wharton is the CEO and Founder of WndrHLTH, the New York City based, invite-only longevity clinic built in partnership with 65 academic leaders across 34 key scientific domains for health and vitality. Chris has spent the past three years bringing together a diverse group of aging research scientists dedicated to advancing the understanding of precision longevity interventions. This cutting-edge initiative allows the company to offer the most scientifically rigorous longevity concept, in a market that is often plagued by misinformation, trends, and unproven claims.

With more than 20 years of experience in owning and operating wellness businesses, Chris has honed his expertise in the unique needs of high performers, focusing specifically on optimizing health and longevity to help individuals reach their peak potential. His client base includes multiple Olympic gold medalists, Fortune 100 CEOs, and founders of some of the world’s largest technology companies. His proven track record of transforming the health and performance of these individuals speaks to his ability to deliver precision results that extend beyond ordinary wellness programs.

Arnold Whitman has 40 years of successful investing in senior living and senior care. Arnie has broad-based experience in real estate, services, and technology, and a remarkable reputation in the field. He was the founder and CEO of Formation Capital, with over $8B invested. His partnership in Aging 2.0 led to his founding partnership in Generator Ventures, the first venture capital firm focused on the intersection of aging, healthcare, and technology. He currently is founder and managing partner of the Senior Living Transformation Company (SLTC), a revolutionary investment platform looking to transform senior care in America. Arnie sits on multiple boards and is an owner, investor and board member of HC-One, the largest care home provider in the UK. In addition, he is Chairman Emeritus of NIC.

Debra Whitman, PhD is AARP’s Chief Public Policy Officer, leading policy development, analysis and research, as well as global thought leadership supporting and advancing the interests of individuals aged 50-plus and their families. She oversees AARP’s Public Policy Institute, AARP Research, Office of Policy Development and Integration, Thought Leadership, and AARP International.

Whitman is an authority on aging issues with extensive experience in national policymaking, domestic and international research, and the political process. An economist, she is a strategic thinker whose career has been dedicated to solving problems affecting economic and health security, and other issues related to population aging.

As staff director for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, she worked across the aisle to increase retirement security, lower the cost of health care, protect vulnerable seniors, safeguard consumers, make the pharmaceutical industry more transparent, and improve the nation’s long-term care system.

Before that, Whitman worked for the Congressional Research Service as a specialist in the economics of aging. She provided members of Congress and their staff with research and advice and authored analytical reports on the economic impacts of current policies affecting older Americans, as well as the distributional and intergenerational effects of legislative proposals.