Presenter Bios
Elin Schold Davis OTR/L, CDRS, has worked in the field of occupational therapy for more than 25 years. Her experience in long–term care and adult rehabilitation at the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute (Minneapolis, Minnesota) led her to her current AOTA position as the coordinator of the AOTA Older Driver Initiative. Her projects focus on building awareness of occupational therapy’s role in senior safe mobility and increasing the capacity of occupational therapy programs to address driving as an instrumental activity of daily living. Current AOTA initiatives include projects with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the MIT Age Lab and The Hartford. Schold Davis is a certified driving rehabilitation specialist (CDRS), a member of the American Society on Aging’s DriveWell Speakers Bureau, and a CarFit Instructor.
Essie Wagner, MA, has been working on older driver issues for 17 years. Wagner is a program analyst working for the NHTSA Safety Countermeasures Division on older driver safety programs. She is responsible for the implementation of the agency’s older driver program activities; in this capacity, she works with service providers, including the American Society on Aging and the American Medical Association, and other organizations that have an interest in older driver safety. She is a co–author of the Older Driver Law Enforcement Course, which was developed by the Transportation Safety Institute in Oklahoma City. Wagner received a BA in psychology from the College of Wooster in Ohio and an MA in applied psychology (human factors) from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Before joining NHTSA in 1998, she worked for 7 years with Federal Highway Administration, where she conducted and monitored extensive research on older driver issues, including the development of the Older Driver Highway Design Handbook.
Lisa Tucker, MA, is project coordinator/technical assistance and training specialist with the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST). With a combined background in applied anthropology and transportation research, she brings a unique and holistic perspective to promoting community transportation and mobility. Before joining NCST in 2008, Tucker was the coordination specialist with the Community Transportation Association of America, where she focused on issues of human service transportation coordination. She previously was coordinator of the Older Driver Safety Project with the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Before relocating to Washington, DC, Tucker was a research associate with the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she performed qualitative research on transportation equity, community impact, transit safety and security, and access issues of transportation disadvantaged populations. Tucker has an MA in applied anthropology and a BA in anthropology from the University of South Florida.
Nina M. Silverstein, PhD, is professor of gerontology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, College of Public and Community Service. She received her doctorate in 1980 from Brandeis University and is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Recent publications have appeared in The Gerontologist, Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, and the Transportation Research Record. She authored technical research reports on transportation available through the Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston, including Driving in Massachusetts: When to Stop and Who Should Decide and Promoting Safe Mobility Among Elders by Increasing Awareness of Vehicle Modifications. Silverstein spent a sabbatical in Washington, DC, for the 2004–2005 academic year, dividing her time between the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Alzheimer’s Association Public Policy Division. During that year, she co-authored a DOT report, Community Mobility and Dementia: A Review of the Literature. Silverstein is co-investigator on an Alzheimer’s Association–funded study, Fitness to Drive in Early Stage Dementia: An Instrumented Vehicle Study.
Helen K. Kerschner, PhD, has more than 30 years of experience in health, aging, transportation, and international development. Her career has included positions in university settings, corporate America, the federal government, and the nonprofit sector. Kerschner is president and CEO of the Beverly Foundation (Albuquerque, New Mexico). The foundation undertakes research, demonstration, and education to foster new ideas and options that can enhance mobility and transportation for today’s and tomorrow’s older population. In addition to her administrative position, Kerschner facilitates focus groups and provides training in focus group organization and facilitation. Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree from North Texas State University and a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Southern California.