Past Keynote Speakers
2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Jeanette Leardi, author of AGING SIDEWAYS: Changing Our Perspectives on Getting Older, is an aging wellness leader who changes people’s perceptions about elders and the aging process. She gives engaging in-person and virtual keynotes, presentations, workshops, and classes to people of all ages; writes articles for national publications; and appears on national broadcasts.
Her editorial experiences include positions at Newsweek, Life, People, Condé Nast Traveler, Sesame Street magazines, and The Charlotte Observer.
Keynote Presentation: AGING SIDEWAYS: Let’s Change How We Get Older!
2025 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Founder & CEO of AI50
Mechanical Engineering, 1983, MSU; Wharton AI for Business
As founder and CEO of AI50, Hanh Brown leverages her mechanical engineering leadership from the Corvette program and AI expertise from Wharton's AI for Business program to revolutionize healthy aging technology. Her mission is to harness trusted, secure, and adaptable AI, not just for automation but as a strategic tool for business growth and societal improvement. Her unique combination of performance integration experience and AI specialization drives the development of practical, accessible solutions for the 50+ demographic through AI50's AgeUp platform. Informed by personal experience caring for family members with Parkinson's and dementia, she translates complex AI capabilities into tangible tools that address real-world aging challenges, focusing on enhanced independence and quality of life.
Keynote Presentation: Embracing AI: A Fresh Approach to Healthy Aging
2024 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Primary Care physician/ internist with Cherry Health
Dr. Varma earned her MD at Northwestern University and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Michigan. She practiced as a Hospitalist for 16 years for Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu Hawaii and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids Michigan. Since 2017 she has joined Cherry Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center, providing primary care to underserved populations. In addition to her internal medicine practice, she is a clinical educator and Associate Professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
Dr. Abha notes that her patients are in desperate need of time, mindfulness, and sincerity. She notes that mindfulness encompasses intentionality in everyday life: one breath, one action, one day at a time. She brings her passion for cooking, for people, and medicine into her mindfulness practice, podcast, inspirational speaking, medical practice, and writing.
2020 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. John Mulder (MD, FAAHPM, HMDC) CEO of Faith Hospice
Dr. John Mulder is a hospice & palliative care physician and serves as the Chief Medical Consultant for Hospice and Palliative Care for Holland Home. He is also Medical Director of the Trillium Institute, an affiliate of Holland Home. Dr. Mulder has been recognized by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) with the 2019 Project on Death in America (PDIA) Palliative Medicine Community Leadership Award. He served on the State of Michigan Advisory Committee on Pain and Symptom Management by gubernatorial appointment and was invited to testify in front of the US House of Representatives regarding the opioid crisis. Dr. Mulder has been recognized for his efforts to advance the field of palliative care in our community through distinctive mentorship and leadership, as well as his commitment to mentoring future leaders and serving as a role model for other health professionals engaged in improving the care of the dying.
Board Certifications:
Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2000; Family Medicine, 1983
Medical Education:
MD, Wayne State University, Detroit
Residency, Family Medicine, St. Mary’s Hospital, Grand Rapids
Fellowship, Faculty Development, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
2019 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Christina Pierpaoli Parker, MA. Changing Aging Contributor
Christina Pierpaoli Parker is a fifth-year graduate student in the Clinical Geropsychology doctoral program at the University of Alabama under the co-mentorship of Drs. Forrest Scogin and Martha R. Crowther. Her research and clinical work explore the intersection of older adults’ physical and psychological health, focusing on the adjustment to and behavioral management of chronic health conditions (e.g., HIV, metabolic syndrome, osteoarthritis). Current interests include developing psychoeducational interventions for understanding, treating, and improving sexual dysfunction in later life. Christina’s work has been published in the Journals of Aging & Health, Sex & Marital Therapy, and The Clinical Gerontologist and presented at international conferences. She translates her academic research for Eng(aging), her widely acclaimed blog on Psychology Today, which has landed her interviews as an aging expert on The Psychology Podcast with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman and The Aging Literacy Podcast with Dr. Bill Thomas. Her forthcoming book, Trixxx Aren’t Just For Kids, written with Dr. Elizabeth DiNapoli, explores the science and stories of sex in later life.
