ARARF has assembled both a board of directors and an advisory board consisting of leading health care professionals—including doctors, nurses, scientists, university professors, and researchers—to consult on every aspect of the development of our caregiver guides. ARARF is committed to staying on the leading edge of Alzheimer’s and related dementia research. See a complete list and bios below:
The following are the ARARF’s distinguished Board of Directors:
Thomas B. Elin, JD
Jeanne M. Emerson, CPA
Ginny Funk, MA
Charles L. Gebhardt, III, MBA
Martyn C. Glen, MAI, CRE, FRICS
Catherine Harris PhD, RNCS
Gustavo C. Roman, MD
Thomas Elin, President and CEO of ARARF, has been dedicated to developing state-of-the-art care programs for those with Alzheimer’s disease since 1980. He has developed, owned, and operated numerous residential projects with an emphasis on housing for the elderly. In addition, he has developed, owned, and operated research centers, which have been integrated into these Alzheimer care programs. In his quest to develop new and innovative care programs for persons with Alzheimer’s, he has incorporated and integrated research relating primarily to the behavioral issues affecting persons with Alzheimer’s disease through direct affiliations with major university health science centers, with an emphasis on medical and nursing schools. These affiliations with institutions of higher education have led Elin to expand his mission to encompass the development and distribution of educational materials using innovative technologies such as CD-ROM based video, Telemedicine and other distance learning vehicles for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals.
Jeanne Emerson is a partner with the public accounting firm of Larson, Ludwig & Stokes LLP in San Diego. Jeanne graduated summa cum laude from San Diego State University in 1980 and enrolled in the University’s graduate school, where she taught several tax and accounting courses. She received the degree of Master of Science in Taxation. Following graduate school, she joined the San Diego office of Deloitte LLP, an international accounting firm, in 1982. In 1988, Jeanne formed her own accounting firm and, in 1994, Jeanne merged her accounting practice with Larson, Ludwig & Stokes LLP.
As a tax manager with an international accounting firm, Jeanne developed special expertise in personal and estate tax planning, partnership taxation, and tax planning for closely held businesses. She also developed a special expertise in real estate transaction analysis, and was an active member of the firm’s Real Estate and Construction Industry Group.
Her clients are privately held businesses and individuals in service businesses, the professions and the health care industry, including physicians, attorneys, professional athletes, and business owners.
Jeanne is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, including the Institute’s Tax Division. She has also been an active member of the California Society of CPAs, the Construction Financial Management Association and the Estate Planning Council of San Diego.
Ms. Ginny Funk holds a BA in Psychology from Trinity University and a dual master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy from Our Lady of the Lake University.
Ms. Funk has worked for the Alzheimer’s Association for 18 years. Currently, Ms. Funk is the Director Programs and Advocacy for the Alzheimer’s Association and as such is responsible for the oversight and delivery of all programs including education, outreach, support group training, and the helpline. Moreover, she is also responsible for the oversight of all advocacy efforts including at the local, state and federal level.
Most relevant of all, Ms. Funk was the main caregiver for her mother, who she recently lost to Alzheimer’s disease.
Charles L. Gebhardt, III, President & CEO, Gebhardt Aviation Consulting, Green Valley, Arizona. As an Engineer and Experimental Test Pilot Mr. Gebhardt works with and is very familiar with a complex array of computer systems and their operations ranging from basic systems to extremely complex systems of all types of highly sophisticated aircraft both military and commercial. The Alzheimer’s Caregiver™ is a state-of-the-art computer system that is part of an even more complex computer platform and delivery system. Mr. Gebhardt’s expertise in this particular realm of technology will be of enormous benefit to The Alzheimer’s Caregiver™ and therefore by extension to the many aspects of care related to Alzheimer’s disease.
Mr. Gebhardt is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in Engineering Sciences; Seattle University with a MBA; and the USAF Aerospace Research (Test) Pilot School. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.
He started with Boeing Military Airplanes in Wichita, Kansas flying B-52s, KC-135s, 707s, 727s and 747s. He was the project pilot and made the first flight on the KC-135E and the KC-135R. In 1988 he transferred to Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle and flew as an engineering pilot and as a production pilot on 737s, 747-400s, 757s, 767s and 777s. He was the project pilot on the 767 AWACS, 747 Airborne Laser, and 737 Wedgetail and made the first flights for each of the aircraft.
Mr. Gebhardt’s computer and overall systems expertise will enable him to consult and oversee the technical and operating features of the Knowledge Base, The Alzheimer’s Caregiver™ including its subscription service modules or mobile apps.
Martyn Glen has been actively engaged in real estate valuation and consulting since 1967, entering the appraisal profession as a valuer in the Valuation Department of the Inland Revenue in Scotland. During his time with the Valuation Department, he was personally involved in the valuation of all types of heritable property for taxation purposes and in connection with the acquisition and disposal of property by other government departments. These properties
Dr. Harris a Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing pioneered respite care services for home bound caregivers, recruiting, training, and monitoring respite providers. She has led research on the bereavement experience of Alzheimer caregivers, governance in residential settings, and the effectiveness of volunteers as respite care providers. She has received two National Institutes of Mental Health Faculty Development Awards in Geriatric Mental Health and has been certified by the American Nurses Association as a Gerontologic and Adult Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist. In addition to many lectures and radio and television appearances, she led a state-wide Alzheimer training project from 1993 through 1999 in New Mexico. This project included planning and implementing six major Alzheimer conferences and producing training videos for a variety of Alzheimer care topics. With over 30 years of university teaching experience, including eighteen in Geropsychiatric nursing, plus many years of hands-on clinical work, Dr. Harris possesses first-hand knowledge of the needs of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their families, including diverse cultural and ethnic groups, along with the needs of clinical professionals and care centers. She received her basic nursing education at the University of Kansas, Kansas City and Master’s degree in Psychiatric Nursing from University of California, San Francisco. She received her PhD from the University of New Mexico and a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. She served three years as a Lieutenant in the US Air Force.
Dr. Gustavo Román is Director of The Nantz National Alzheimer Center a scholarly partnership between The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. In 2010 Methodist named acclaimed Alzheimer’s clinician-researcher Dr. Gustavo Román to lead the Alzheimer’s center. He leads a multi-disciplinary team that is conducting translational research on memory disorders and the relationship between brain circulation and dementia. Dr. Roman is an internationally recognized expert in the field of Vascular dementia, Dr. Román will consult ARARF on the medical and neurological content in the Sleep Behavior Disorders component of its caregiver guide. Dr. Román will also review the guide for medical accuracy and applicability to dementia. Additionally, as a native Spanish-speaker, Dr. Román will review the translations for accuracy, cultural relevance, and sensitivity. Dr. Román served as an advisor to the US Food and Drug Administration and was Chief of the Neuroepidemiology Branch at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he helped develop cooperative international research programs. During his tenure at the NIH, Dr. Román was instrumental in organizing the international workshop that defined the criteria for vascular dementia for research studies.
In 2008, Gustavo C. Roman, M.D., professor of neurology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, was elected to the board of directors of The World Federation of Neurology (WFN).
To be nominated as a trustee, candidates must have a national and international reputation in neurology and demonstrate a substantial commitment to the growth and development of the WFN. For more than 10 years, Dr. Roman has served as associate editor of the organization’s Journal of the Neurological Science, chaired its research group on neuroepidemiology, and worked on a number of its research groups and committees.
The World Federation of Neurology is the international body representing the specialty of neurology in more than 100 countries and regions of the globe, with 108 member societies. Its purpose is to improve human health worldwide by promoting prevention and care of persons with disorders of the nervous system.
Dr. Roman founded in 1999 the UT Medicine San Antonio “Memory Disorders Clinic,” in affiliation with ARARF, where he sees patients with Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and dementia. He is an advocate for research on the relationships between brain circulation and dementia.