Faculty & Staff Listing

 

Denise Montcalm, MSW, PhD., Interim Director

Email: montcalm@unr.edu

 

Dr. Montcalm is currently the interim dean of the Division of Health Sciences until a new vice president for Health Sciences/Dean of Denise Montcalmthe School of Medicine is in place. Additionally, she is the interim director of the Sanford Center for Aging, Director of the School of Social Work, MSW Program Coordinator, and Associate Professor. Her education is as follows: BSW 1974, Nazareth College, M.S.W. 1985, Michigan State University, Ph.D. 1991, Michigan State University, Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Aging Studies 1991-1993, University of Michigan. Professor Montcalm teaches courses in research, data analysis, human behavior, and death and dying. Her primary research interests include research self-efficacy (among social workers) and family care giving. Community involvement includes past program chair for the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors annual conference, past vice-president for the Nevada Chapter of the NASW; and current Nevada Geriatric Education Center Board of Directors.

Maryl Boyer, Student Worker

Email: marylb@unr.edu

 

Maryl Boyer is a student assistant at the Sanford Center for Aging. She works with Teresa M. Sacks on the ADRC program, and also spends time working on the Sanford Endowment. Maryl is currently a student in the pre-nursing program at UNR. She hopes to apply to the Orvis School of Nursing at UNR in Spring of 2012 and plans to complete her minor in Psychology.

Angela D. Broadus, M.A., Research Assistant

Email: broadusad@gmail.com

 

Angela earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in English and Pre-Nursing from Sam Houston State University in Texas, and completed Master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology at Sam Houston State University and in Social Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Doctoral program at UNR. Angela is a student member of the College on Problems in Drug Dependence, a prestigious global organization for researchers in the field of addiction, along with various other organizations important to the fields of psychology, social psychology, and criminal justice. Since 2004, she has worked for the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT) in various capacities, including graduate research assistant, grant writer, and instructor. She taught CAS 712 (Neuroscience of Addiction), and co-presented on aging and addiction at the Wyoming Conference on Aging (2009), the National Rural Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (2010), and for the Substance Abuse and Prevention Treatment Agency (SAPTA) in Reno and Las Vegas. In addition, Ms. Broadus has taught other courses at Sam Houston State University and UNR in child development, and lectured for other instructors on various topics. Upon graduation, Angela plans to pursue a career in academia.

Diane Chau, M.D., Medical Director, Geriatric Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine

Email: dchau@medicine.nevada.edu

Diane Chau, M.D.

B.A. Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA
M.D., Drexel University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
Fellow of the American College of Physicians Albert Schweitzer Fellow for Life, Boston, MA
Residency, Internal Medicine University of Hawaii, Honolulu
Fellowship, Geriatric Medicine University of California, San Diego
Board Certified, Geriatric Medicine
Board Certified, Hospice & Palliative Medicine
UNR, Certificate of Advance Management
Currently enrolled in the American College of Healthcare Executives Leadership training and Scranton University MBA programs.
Chief, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine Reno

Mindy Dembroge, Volunteer Coordinator for RSVP

Email: mindy@unr.edu

 

Mindy coordinates all volunteer activities including recruitment, training, performance and placement.  She evaluates volunteers and matches them with a placement in the community.

Jeanette Drisdale, Student Worker

Email: jdrisdale@unr.edu

 

Jeanette works as an undergraduate student assistant for Teresa M. Sacks in the Medication Therapy Management program. Jeanette is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Community Health Sciences and will be minoring in Gerontology. Her passion for aging has been elevated while working for the Sanford center and she plans on using her experiences as a student assistant to help her achieve her future goals in the aging work force.

Greta A. Engelbrecht, Senior Outreach Services, Special Projects Coordinator

Email: gengelbrecht@unr.edu

 

Greta EngelbrechtGreta is the Senior Outreach Services Special Projects Coordinator assisting with continuing education and training for volunteers while promoting volunteer retention and recognition. She supports service learning partnerships and collaborations that leverage essential services for the clients. Additional responsibilities include grant writing, fundraising, regulatory compliance and continuous quality improvement for the SOS program.

 

Greta is a retired pharmacist and quality manager with a background in non-profit organizations (research institutes and hospitals) and for profit concerns (small business and multinational corporation). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from North West University, South Africa and a Certified Quality Manager (CQM) 2001 American Society of Quality (ASQ).

 

Working with the compassionate and very resourceful SOS volunteers is a privilege!

Susan Harris, PhD., Operations Manager & Gerontology Academic Program Coordinator

Email: sharris@unr.edu

 

Susan Harris

Susan Harris is operations manager and program coordinator of the Gerontology Academic Program within the University of Nevada, Reno's Sanford Center for Aging. She holds a Master of Science in Human Development and Family Studies and a Master of Arts in Social Psychology, both from the university. Her dissertation areas of interest included the social psychology of aging and psychological development in adulthood. She was formerly project director for the statewide Nevada Care Connection project, a one-stop information source for professional and informal caregivers. The project was underwritten by the state's Aging and Disability Services Division.

Diann Jones, Administrative Assistant III, Nevada Geriatric Education Center

Email: dsjones@medicine.nevada.edu

 

I was born in Montana and moved to Nevada in 1990. I worked at the Hawthorne Army Depot for 8 years and moved back to Montana, where I worked at Montana State Prison for 4 years and then left to get my BS in Human Services at Montana State University-Billings. During college, I interned at a women’s and children’s domestic violence shelter, a youth mentoring agency, and a misdemeanor probation and parole office and worked at a fence company. I also did work study hours at the campus Disability Support Services office. After the internships, I continued to work mentoring youth and at the probation and parole office until graduation. After graduation, I worked for the Montana State Chemical Dependency Center briefly until I moved back to Nevada and came to work for the Nevada Geriatric Education Center as a temp in October 2007. I was hired permanently in February 2008.

Valerie Lykes, M.A., Research Assistant

Email: vlykes@unr.edu

 

Valerie Lykes Valerie is a research assistant at Sanford.  She is orignally from Flemington, NJ and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Interdisciplinary Social Psychology.  Her interests include the psychology of aging, religion, health and the environment.  She is currently focused on re-designing and updating the SCA website.

Erin Meyer, Student Worker

Email: meyere10@unr.edu

 

Erin is an undergraduate studying biology. 

Phyllis E. Militello, MPA, Assistant Director of the Nevada Geriatric Education Center

Email: pmilitello@medicine.nevada.edu

 

Phyllis earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Human Services, Gerontology Option and her Masters Degree in Public Administration from California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, California. She has been in the field of aging for the past 20 years. Phyllis first worked in a senior center and then as a case manager for South Bay Senior Services, serving seniors in a seven city area, in a program funded through the Los Angeles California Area Agency on Aging. In 1993 she became Director of that program and remained so until leaving in 1998. In 1999 Phyllis and her husband moved to Las Vegas and she began working for the NGEC as a Program Coordinator. In 2002 she became the NGEC Assistant Director. Her duties include managing the Providers’ Certificate of Specialization in Aging, the Administrator in Training Program and the annual Living with Grief program. She will be working on continuing medical education programs for the newly awarded federal grant sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Phyllis also conducts Sensitivity to Aging training programs to Family Medicine residents and third year dental students. She is involved in community organizations such as the Nevada Multicultural End of Life Care Coalition, the UNLV School of Social Work Gerontological Education Advisory Board and the HealthInsight Nevada Community Council. 

Lynn Morgan, Office Manager

Email: lynnmorgan@unr.edu

 

Lynn is the new Office Manager for the Sanford Center for Aging (SCA), Division of Health Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. Lynn manages the Center's administrative functions and is the "go-to" person for the SCA. Lynn handles a variety of tasks such as the processing and tracking of all accounting transactions; grants (submission, maintenance and closeout); human resources; leave keeping; and travel. Further Lynn provides general administrative support to the Acting Director, Operations Manager, and faculty.
Prior to joining the SCA team, Lynn was employed in the Headquarters of the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Lynn has held several positions of increasing responsibilities within the CHP including: entry level secretary in Commercial Vehicle Section; executive secretary in the Office of the Commissioner; journey level analyst in the Vehicle Theft Unit; Public Safety Dispatcher; senior level analyst and trainer for the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity; and Motor Carrier Specialist I. Lynn is a native of Los Angeles County, California. After living in big cities all her life, Lynn and her family are excited to enjoy all that Reno has to offer! River walks, snowy mountaintops, desert landscapes, intimate concerts and what she calls "small-town activities" like Hot August Nights, Reno River Festival and Street Vibrations. Lynn brings a wealth of analytical and secretarial experience and a knack for reading and understanding regulations and governmental processes. She even has a bit of mechanical knowledge too! You can contact her by telephone at 775-784-1805, or by e mail at lynnmorgan@unr.edu

Shane Moulton, M.A., Research Assistant

Email: smoulton@unr.edu

 

Shane is a graduate assistant working on a variety of projects at the Sanford Center for Aging. He is originally from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and is currently a student of UNR's Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Social Psychology.

Shane's interests include the psychology of aging, social cognition, and gender studies.

He anticipates basing his future research endeavors on much of the work he does at Sanford.

 

Teresa Sacks, M.P.H., Health Research Analyst

Email: sackst@unr.edu

 

Teresa SacksTeresa Sacks returned to the Sanford Center for Aging in September as a Health Research Analyst. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minor in Gerontology from San Jose State University. She completed her Masters Degree in Public Health with a Certificate in Gerontology from the University of Nevada, Reno. Ms. Sacks is responsible for the overall management and operation of the Elders Count Project and the Medication Therapy Management Program . In addition to working on these two projects, Teresa also works with other SCA faculty and Nevada System of Higher Education faculty on program oversight, program research and evaluation, and grant development. She also works on developing programs that meet the training and consultative needs of physicians and other healthcare professionals throughout Nevada. Teresa is a published author and advocates on issues related to Veterans, elder rights, and long term care reform.

Patricia Swager, M.Ed., Director, Nevada Geriatric Education Center

Email: pswager@medicine.nevada.edu

 

Patricia Swager Patricia Swager earned her gerontology certificate and her masters in education with an emphasis in exercise science and health education from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She has been active in the field of aging since 1993. Patti is currently the Director for the University of Nevada School of Medicine and Sanford Center for Aging’s Nevada Geriatric Education Center (NGEC). In her role as director, Patti oversees the NGEC activities which include offering continuing education programs for health care professionals, working with faculty to enhance their knowledge in aging and/or to integrate geriatrics into the curriculum that trains future health care professionals, developing contracts with agencies to provide specialized training for their staff or the community on a fee-for-service basis, and managing the federal NGEC grant sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Patti also conducts training programs to sensitize students, health care professionals, and community members to some of the challenges that may occur with aging, serves as the Treasurer for the National Association for Geriatric Education, and participates in UNR and community meetings.

R. Scott Trevithick, M.Div., Director of Volunteer Programs

Email: rtrevithick@unr.edu

 

R. Scott Trevithick Scott was named Project Director for the Sanford Center for Aging's (SCA's) Volunteer Programs in the Fall of 2011. Scott brings over 20 years of program development and leadership experience to this position. Most recently, he was the Executive Director of Special Advocates for Elders (SAFE), a program which recruited and trained volunteers to be advocates for elders facing guardianship. He has extensive experience working with seniors, churches, and other community organizations. His leadership of SCA's volunteer programs will focus on linking adults age 55+ to community organizations as well has harnessing these relationships for the benefit of students seeking Service Learning opportunities to enhance their academic experience. Scott earned a bachelor's degree in Business from UC Riverside and a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church. Scott has certification in Nonprofit Management from UNR's Extended Studies program.

Paula Valencia-Castro, M.P.H.

Email: paulav@unr.edu

 

Paula Valencia-Castro Originally from Chile, Paula received a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the Universidad de Playa Ancha, Chile. She recently obtained a Master of Public Health (Epidemiology) from the University of Nevada, Reno and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Health. Paula is fluent in English and Spanish. Her research interests include epidemiology, environmental health and Latinos’ health. She anticipates basing her future research endeavors on much of the work she does at Sanford.

Sina Ward, Ed.D., Project Director, Senior Outreach Services

Email: sinaw@unr.edu

 

Sina Ward Dr. Sina Peau Ward is the Program Director for Senior Outreach Services, a volunteer program in which active senior volunteers assist low income, homebound, frail and elderly clients in maintaining their independent living status. Sina builds upon collaborations and partnerships on campus and in the community to contribute to the program focus of volunteers delivering assistive and supportive services to the most vulnerable elders in our community. She supports intergenerational partnerships that provide opportunities for students to gain professional experience by providing critical services for seniors.

 

Sina has an extensive background in counseling and education and served as Director of Admissions and Registrar for the American Samoa Community College in Pago Pago, where she worked for over 18 years before relocating to Reno. She holds a BA in Psychology at the University of Southern California, an MS in Counseling at the California State University, Hayward and her Ed.D. in Education Administration from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. .