Karen Fredriksen Goldsen, PhD, is professor at the University of Washington and principal of Goldsen Institute, School of Social Work. Dr. Fredriksen Goldsen is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar addressing equity and the intersections and trajectories of health, aging, and well-being over the life course among underserved, resilient communities. Characterized as an international leader in sexuality and gender longevity and aging research, she is principal investigator of multiple federally funded landmark studies, including the National Health, Aging and Sexuality/Gender Study: Aging with Pride; IDEA (Innovations in Dementia Empowerment and Action); and the Global Pride Study. Dr. Fredriksen Goldsen is the author of seven books and special issues and more than 100 publications in leading journals, such as the American Journal for Public Health, The Gerontologist, and Social Work. She has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the PBS’s Inaugural Next Avenue’s Top 50 Influencer in Aging, Inaugural 2019 U.S. National Institutes of Health Sexual & Gender Minority Distinguished Investigator Award, Gerontological Society of America Award for Healthy Aging, Career Achievement Award from the Association of Gerontology Education in Social Work, and the University of Washington’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Her research has been cited by leading news sources such as New York Times, CNSS, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, NBC News, USA Today, and Forbes, as well as more than 75 international news outlets.

Read Dr. Fredriksen’s full bio here.

Main Research Areas: LGBT Aging, end of life issues, social relationships
Biography: Brian de Vries, Ph.D. received his doctorate in life-span developmental psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1988, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California. He is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). Dr. de Vries served on the Institute of Medicine’s Board on the Health of Select Populations Committee producing The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding (2011). Dr. de Vries is former editor of Sexuality Research and Social Policy (2007-2011) and a former associate editor of The International Journal of Aging and Human Development (2000-2006) and LGBT Health (2013-2015). He has guest edited an additional six journals. In addition, he has edited (or co-edited) five books, including Kinship Bereavement in Later Life (1997), End of Life Issues (1999), Narrative Gerontology (2001), Gay and Lesbian Aging (2004) and Community-Based Research in LGBT Aging (2015); he has authored or co-authored over 125 journal articles, book chapters and professional publications; he has given over 200 presentations to professional audiences on the social and psychological well-being of midlife and older LGBT persons, bereavement, and life stories. His research has been funded by several grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Frailty Network, among other foundations and granting agencies
Selected Works:
de Vries, B., Gutman, G., Humble, A., Gahagan, J., Chamberland, L., Aubert, P., Fast, J., & Mock, S. (2019). End-of-Life preparations among LGBT older Canadians: The missing conversations. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 88(4), 358-379. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415019836738.
de Vries, B. (2015). Stigma and LGBT aging: Negative and positive marginality. In N. Orel and C. Fruhauf (Eds.), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender older adults and their families: Current research and clinical applications (pp. 55-71). Washington DC: American Psychological Association Press.

Main Research Areas: Palliative and end of life care; bisexual ageing; care and housing in old age
Biography: Kathryn Almack is Professor of Health and Family Lives in the School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire. She is a sociologist whose research has had a substantial focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) older people, ageing and end of life care. Her ground-breaking research in this area includes:

• Working with the Government’s National End of Life Care Programme 2008-2013 to address inequalities in end of life care facing LGBT people Three major studies funded by the Marie Curie Research Programme
• The Last Outing: the UK’s largest study on the experiences and needs at the end of life for LGBT people aged 60+
• ACCESSCare A: Exploring access to and delivery of palliative care for all LGBT people
• ACCESSCare B: Bereavement outcomes for LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) and heterosexual partners: a population-based cross-sectional mixed methods study
• Improving care home environments for LGBT residents and staff
• The first studies to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practice of staff in care homes towards LGBT residents
• An innovative Research Council funded seminar series on gaps in knowledge about LGBT ageing. This culminated in a book, Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Adults: Minding the Knowledge Gaps published by Routledge in 2019.

Kathryn has an established national and international reputation in this field. She has co-edited a number of international collections for special journal issues and another book collection ‘Intersections of Ageing, Gender and Sexualities: Multi-Disciplinary International Perspectives’ (Policy Press, 2019). Findings from her research have fed into a number of UK government consultations about inequalities in end of life care and been used to develop new resources for policy makers, health and social care professionals. Kathryn has a previous background in community development work and maintains a strong commitment to user involvement in research.

Selected Works:

Makita, M., Bahena, A. & Almack, K. (2020) The role of sexual orientation, age, living arrangements and self-rated health in planning for end-of-life care for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) older people in the UK. Sexualities. OnlineFirst. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720932381

Almack, K. and King A. (2019) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans Aging in a U.K. Context: Critical Observations of Recent Research Literature. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development. 89(1): 93–107

Almack, K (2019) ‘I Didn’t Come Out to Go Back in the Closet’: Ageing and end of life care for older LGBT people. In King, A., Almack, K., Suen T-Y and Westwood, S (2019) Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People: Minding the Knowledge Gaps. London: Routledge, 158-171

Bristowe, K., Hodson, M., Wee, B., Almack, K., Johnson, K., Daveson, B. A., Koffman, J., McEnhill, L. & Harding, R. (2018) Recommendations to reduce inequalities for LGBT people facing advanced illness: ACCESSCare national qualitative interview study. Palliative Medicine. 32 (1), 23-35.

Willis, P., Almack, K., Hafford-Letchfield, T., Simpson, P., Billings, B. & Mall, N. (2018) Turning the Co-Production Corner: Methodological Reflections from an Action Research Project to Promote LGBT Inclusion in Care Homes for Older People. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15 (4), p E695. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15040695

Almack, K., Jones, R. L., Scicluna, R. M. (2018) Bisexuality and ageing: why it matters for social work practice. In Dunk-West, P. and Hafford-Letchfield, P. (editors). Sexuality, Sexual and Gender Identities and Intimacy Research in Social Work and Social Care: a Lifecourse Epistemology. London: Routledge, 142-154

Simpson, P, Almack K, and Walthery, P. (2018) ‘We Treat them All the Same’: A Survey of attitudes, knowledge and practices of staff concerning LGB&T residents in care homes for old people. Ageing and Society 38 (5): 869-899. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X1600132X

Main Research Areas: Mental Health / Salud Mental. Trans women/ Mujer Trans. Sexual Diversity / Diversidad Sexual. Qualitative Research / Investigación cualitativa Biography: María Del Mar Pérez Arizabaleta is a Colombian psychologist specializing in clinical psychology with psychoanalytic orientation, and a Master in Psychology with an emphasis on research. She is Professor and researcher at the Antonio Nariño University, where she teaches clinical psychology courses and research on sexual health with a population of Trans women and men who have sex with men from a qualitative methodology. She is a volunteer psychologist within the psychosocial team as psychological accompaniment with Trans people, of a community-based organization oriented to the claim, defense and guarantee of dignified citizenship for Trans women (Transformists, Transvestites, Transgender, Transsexuals) in the city of Cali , Colombia, called Fundación Santamaría. María Del Mar Pérez Arizabaleta, Psicóloga colombiana especialista en psicología clínica con orientación psicoanalítica, magíster en Psicología con énfasis en investigación. Profesora e investigadora de la Universidad Antonio Nariño, en donde dicto cursos de psicología clínica e investigo sobre la salud sexual con población de mujeres Trans y hombres que tienen sexo con hombres desde una metodología cualitativa. Soy psicóloga voluntaria dentro del equipo psicosocial como acompañamiento psicológico con personas Trans, de una organización de base comunitaria orientada a la reivindicación, defensa y garantía de una ciudadanía digna para las mujeres Trans (Transformistas, Travestis, Transgénero, Transexuales) en la ciudad de Cali, Colombia, denominada Fundación Santamaría. Selected Works: Pérez-Arizabaleta, M. & Orejuela, J. (2020). Sujeto, síntoma, dispositivo y terapeuta: Una mirada hacia la responsabilidad subjetiva en el campo de la salud mental. Revista Affectio Societatis, 17, (32) . DOI: https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.affs.v17n32a09

Main Research Areas: Homophobic violence, sexual prejudice, mental health Biography: I am a psychologist, with a master’s degree in sociology and a PhD in social psychology. I have postdoctoral training in Spain and France. I have worked at the Universidad Católica del Norte and, at the University of Santiago de Chile and, currently, at the Faculty of Psychology of the University Alberto Hurtado, in Santiago, Chile. At that University I am Director of Research and Postgraduate Studies. I have taught in Spain and France in master’s programs. My academic experience is focused on social psychology and well-being. Also, in gender and diversity training. My research has focused on the study of prejudice and discrimination in various social groups and their effects on mental health. Likewise, in the study of sexuality, gender relations and other markers of social difference. Also, in the study of psychosocial processes linked to social and political processes in Latin America. I have training in quantitative and qualitative analysis. I have conducted several research projects and participate as a co-researcher in various international projects with colleagues from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, France, USA, Portugal, among other countries. My scientific productivity is extensive in indexed journals (WoS, Scopus and Scielo) and in other types of journals. I have also published book chapters in international publisher books. I have written several books of my own authorship. I participate in various editorial committees of international journals and participate in international scientific societies. Selected Works: Guzmán-González, M., Barrientos, J., Gómez, F.,. Meyer, I.H, Bahamondes, J., & Cárdenas, M. (2019). Romantic Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction in Gay Men and Lesbian Women in Chile. Journal of Sex Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2019.1671949 Barrientos, J., Gómez, F., & Cárdenas, M. (2016). Subjective well-being and levels of clinical symptomatology in a transwomen sample. Journal of Homosexuality, 63, 11, 1502-1516. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1223346 Barrientos, J., Echagüe, C., Matus, C., & Astudillo, P. (2019). Chapter 8: Homophobic Violence against LGBTQ+ Youth in a Chilean School. In: Helen Sauntson and Jón Ingvar Kjaran. Schools as Queer Transformative Spaces. Global Narratives on Sexualities and Gender. Routledge: London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351028820

Biography: Senior research scholar, Aging Team, Family Group, the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute (MJB), Israel’s leading center for applied social research. Ayelet Berg-Warman has worked at MJB since 1994. Her primary research areas are: the evaluation of needs and programs for older adults. Her studies address the prevention and treatment of elder abuse and neglect in the community and in institutions; active aging; supportive communities; the evaluation of programs in old-age homes and their effect on the quality of care. In recent years, she has also investigated the needs of aging LGBTs, the responses they receive from the health and welfare systems, and the attitude of Israeli society towards them. She has also participated in numerous international conferences, representing Israel at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on the topic of active aging. Ayelet holds a BA in economics and statistics and an MBA in business administration, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as a PhD in information systems from Tel Aviv University.