Non-Pharmacological Intervention Committee

Dr. Baker is co-chair of the ACTC Non-Pharmacological Interventions Committee, and leads the Inclusion/Diversity Committee of the Recruitment Unit. Dr. Baker is also lead co-Principal Investigator of U.S. POINTER, and co-PI of the U.S. POINTER Coordinating Center at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She is also PI, co-PI, or Project Director of three other large national studies focused on Alzheimer’s prevention, including the Women’s Health Initiative Sleep Hypoxia Effects on Resilience (WHISPER) study, the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study for the Mind (COSMOS-Mind), and Aerobic Exercise to Slow Cognitive Decline in Mild Cognitive Impairment (EXERT). She has held leadership positions for numerous NIH multi-site clinical studies (ADAPT, ADAPT-FS, Look AHEAD, WHIMS-ECHO, WHIMS-Y), and have been an investigator of over 50 clinical trials focused on aging, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, which has resulted in over 75 first- or co-authored publications. She is Associate Director of the NIA Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center at Wake Forest School of Medicine, and Leader of the Center’s Outreach and Recruitment Core and Research Education Component Core. In addition to her research, her work also focuses on increasing racial and ethnic diversity in AD clinical studies, and recently served on the NIA/Alzheimer’s Association National taskforce to develop new strategies for recruitment and retention in Alzheimer prevention and treatment trials.

Bruno Vellas serves as Co-Chair for the ACTC Non-Pharmacological Interventions Committee. Dr. Vellas is the chair of the Gérontopôle & Department of Geriatric Internal Medicine at the Toulouse University Hospital and is member of INSERM UMR 1027. He studied medicine in Toulouse and received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1987 and a PhD in Pysiopathology in 1990. He had a doctoral training in nutrition and aging at the University of New Mexico, USA, Clinical Nutrition Lab, School of Medicine from 1987 to 1988. His main interests are: development of aging and geriatric clinical research and care. His research and care has been supported by several European, national and international research grants. He is the founder of the Gérontopôle to develop innovation and research for older adults. He is the author and co-author of more than 800 publications in peer review journals since 1987, Index H: 75. He serves as editor, editorial committee member and reviewer of several major journals. He is adjunct professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA and is member of the scientific advisory board of several major scientific institutions in France, EU, Japan and the US. Since 2016, he is titular member of the French National Academy of Medicine, Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, and was recipient of the Palmes Académiques in 2016. He is the past president of the IAGG (International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics) a NGO with a seat at the United Nations, and the founder of the EADC (European Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium), the CTAD (Clinical Trial in Alzheimer’s Disease conference) and the ICFSR (International Conference for Frailty and Sarcopenia Research). He is the chair of the WHO Collaborating Center for Frailty, Clinical Research and Geriatric Training since September 2017. Lastly, Bruno VELLAS is Principal Investigator of the INSPIRE program in the field of Gerosciences.