2022 ADRD Conference Speakers

Matthew Baumgart

Matthew Baumgart is vice president of Health Policy for the Alzheimer’s Association, leading a range of projects at the intersection of policy and programs to achieve an aggressive agenda that serves all those affected by the disease. In this role, he heads the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Risk Reduction, funded by the CDC. In addition, Baumgart directs the Association's global public policy efforts, working in collaboration with Alzheimer Disease International, the World Dementia Council and the World Health Organization. Prior to joining the Association, Baumgart worked for nearly 18 years in the United States Senate for then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of Delaware and as Legislative Director for Senator Barbara Boxer of California.Baumgart is a native of Seattle, and has a degree in Communications, with a second major in Political Science, from Washington State University in Pullman, WA.

Joseph Gaugler, PhD

Joseph Gaugler, PhD, is a Professor and Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging, Director at the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation in the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, and the Director of the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Caregiving. Dr. Gaugler’s research examines the sources and effectiveness of long-term care for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic conditions. An applied gerontologist, Dr. Gaugler’s interests include Alzheimer’s disease and long-term care, the longitudinal ramifications of family care for persons with dementia and other chronic conditions, and the effectiveness of community-based and psychosocial services for older adults with dementia and their caregiving families. Underpinning these substantive areas, Dr. Gaugler also has interests in mixed methods and implementation science.

Dr. Kristi Wick, DNP, FNP-BC, GS-C

Dr. Kristi Wick is the Vicky B. Gregg Chair in Gerontology, leading the University's efforts to advance nursing science, adopt best practices, foster leadership and design and shape policy. Dr. Wick earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) in 2019 and her Master’s of Science in Nursing in 2008, from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga School of Nursing. Dr. Wick’s undergraduate work includes earning her BSN through the Rural Health Program at ETSU in 1999 and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the University of South Florida. Dr. Wick holds a certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner (2009) and as a Gerontology Specialist –Certified (2018).

In her current role at The University of Tennessee Chattanooga School of Nursing, Dr. Wick’s strategic approach to promote the field of gerontology and empower older adults to age successfully includes a focus on curriculum, workforce development, research, and best practice models to improve population health and quality of care outcomes across all health care sectors.

Dr. Wick’s primary focus is to maximize support and interventions for persons living with dementia and their caregivers. To date, Dr. Wick and her colleagues have received over $1.5 million dollars in grant funding to develop Dementia Friendly Communities in Tennessee. Grant related community projects have led to the establishment of the EngAGING Communities TN initiative which serves as a broad umbrella for case management, workforce support, interprofessional collaboration, and research statewide.

In 2020, Dr. Wick received an appointment by Governor Lee to serve on the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability which includes participation on the Legislative Subcommittee. Dr. Wick was also appointed to serve on the COVID-19 Long Term Care Task Force and held co-chair positions on the Staffing and Communications subcommittees.

Recognizing that innovative change requires strong interprofessional collaborative relationships between health professionals and the community, Dr. Wick leverages community resources to implement programs which address health disparities and inequities in our most vulnerable populations.

During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Wick brought together community stakeholders across the southeast Tennessee region. The Older Adult Community Workgroup, which continues to meet today, focuses on
ensuring vital needs are met including food, medication, health care, transportation access, and reducing social isolation. In addition, Dr. Wick received over $140,000 in grant funding during COVID-19 to ensure older adults in the southeast TN region had access to COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. With the help of UTC faculty, students, local organizations and volunteers, Dr. Wick arranged pop-up onsite COVID-19 testing, vaccine education events and clinics for older adults in congregate housing across Hamilton County. At the university, Dr. Wick participated in COVID-19 projects which included developing protocols, move-in testing, and vaccination clinics. Currently, Dr. Wick is working with the Southeast Area Agency on Aging and Disability to ensure homebound clients across a ten-county region have received their COVID-19 vaccinations.

In addition to her professional responsibilities and university service, Dr. Wick volunteers as a clinical leader for Purpose Point Community Health and serves on the executive board for The Speech in Hearing Center and CIT Connect. Dr. Wick is active in several professional organizations and currently serves as Vice President of the Tennessee Nurses Association, District 4. Dr. Wick resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband and is the proud mother of four boys. She enjoys sporting events, gardening, and trout fishing.

Mohana Karlekar, MD, FACP, FAAHPM

Mohana Karlekar is the Section Chief of Palliative Care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is the Associate Program Director for the Hospice and Palliative Care Fellowship.  She has been on faculty at VUMC for 15 years. She earned her MD from SUNY at Stony Brook and completed internal medicine residency training at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York. Her area of expertise is the intersection of palliative care and trauma and primary palliative care education and has published and presented nationally on this topic. She is the recipient of the Hugh Jackson Morgan Teaching Award in 2009, an Honoree in the Alpha Omega Association in 2009, received The Leonard Tow Humanism Award in 2010, the Thomas Graham Award, Dedicated Service to Patient Centered Care in 2021 and was induced into the Academyof Excellence in 2022.  She is currently the chair of the state palliative care task force.

Adele Lewis, MD

 Dr. Adele Lewis was appointed state chief medical examiner for Tennessee in 2019. Dr. Lewis joined the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) as deputy state chief medical examiner in 2016. Prior to  TDH, Dr. Lewis served as deputy chief medical examiner for Nashville/Davidson County from 2011 to 2016. She was president and chairman of the board for the Nashville Academy of Medicine in 2015 and 2016 and is the only person to serve two terms as president. She has served as a member of the Tennessee Medical Association House of Delegates since 2011 and as chairman of the TMA Public Health Committee since 2015. She was honored with the TMA Distinguished Service Award in 2017. She was a member of the Davidson County Child Death Review Board starting in 2007 and served as co-chair from 2010 to 2016.  

Lewis holds a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Bowdoin College in Maine and earned  her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. After residencies in general surgery, trauma and surgical critical care and anatomic pathology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she completed a fellowship in forensic pathology at the Office of the Medical Examiner in Nashville. She is board-certified in both anatomic and forensic pathology and is a fellow of both the College of American Pathologists and National Association of Medical Examiners.   Lewis has written articles published in a number of professional journals for the forensic science community and has lectured on forensic matters at numerous conferences and symposiums.  She previously served on the Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County Community Oversight Board. She has also served as an expert witness testifying in more than 100 civil and criminal trials in multiple states and in federal court.  

Katie Evans Moss

Katie Evans Moss is Interim Chief of Long Term Services and Supports with the Division of TennCare. Prior to joining LTSS in 2021 as Deputy Chief, she served as Senior Associate General Counsel in the TennCare Office of General Counsel for 6 years. She spent the first 7 years of her legal career at the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee focusing on health, benefits, elder law and children’s issues. She has a wonderful husband of 9 years, two kids (ages 5 and 8), and two COVID-19 rescue dogs.