Aging Texas Well Advisory Committee
Meeting Agendas in PDF format
Advisory Committee Members
| Name | Occupational Area | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Michelle Saunders, MD Chair |
Academic | UT Health Science Center & Geriatric Research Education Center Clinic |
| Karen Johnson | Faith/Non-profit | United Ways of Texas |
| Andrew Crocker, MA | Academic | Texas A&M Cooperative Extension |
| Susan Paynter | Faith/Non-profit | Baptist General Convention of Texas |
| Vacant | Faith/Non-profit | Texas Medical Association |
| Carol Zernial | Aging Network | Texas Area Agency on Aging |
| Bruce Bower | Advocate/Consumer | Texas Senior Advocacy Coalition |
| Carlos Higgins | Advocate/Consumer | TSHL |
| Dan Pruett | Aging Network | Meals on Wheels & More |
| Lisa Kerber, PhD | Healthcare | Seton Health Systems |
| Cynthia Colbert | Faith/Non-profit | Austin Archdiocese |
| Bruce Bower | Advocate/Consumer | Texas Legal Services Center |
| Bea Morehead | Advocate/Consumer | Texas Impact! |
| Mark Narvaez | Advocate Consumer | AARP |
| Janna Zumbrun | Physical/Mental Health | Texas Department State Health Services |
| Brenda Hull | Housing | Texas Department Housing & Community Affairs |
| Lori Henry | Protections | Texas Department Family and Protective Services |
| Cameron Bell | Workforce | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Clare Seagraves | Policy Analysis and Program Coordination | Texas Health and Human Services Commission |
| Cheryl Fuller | Employment | Texas Workforce Investment Council |
| Grace Sanders | Community Supports | Texas Department Assistive and Rehabilitative Services |
| Theresa Cruz | Community Supports | Office of Rural and Community Affairs |
| Ed Serna | Transportation | Texas Department of Transportation |
| Nancy Gresham | Legal/Protections | Office of Atty. General |
| Joe Golson | Workforce | Employee Retirement Services |
| Sherrie Zgabay | Protections | Department Public Safety |
| Chris Fowler | Education | Texas Higher Ed. Board |
| Vacant | Rural Community Supports | Texas Department of Agriculture |
About the Committee
Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order creating the Aging Texas Well Advisory Committee and Action Plan. The order, which was issued in April 2005, formalizes the Aging Texas Well Initiative and asks the department to continue its work to identify and discuss aging policy issues, guide state government readiness, and promote increased community preparedness for an aging Texas population.
Under the executive order, DADS is directed to form an advisory committee to advise the department and to make recommendations to state leadership on implementation of the Aging Texas Well Initiative. DADS will create and disseminate a comprehensive and effective working plan to identify and discuss aging policy issues, guide state government readiness and promote increased community preparedness for an aging Texas.
DADS will also lead a planning effort to ensure the readiness of all Texas state agencies to serve an aging population by identifying issues, current initiatives, and future needs.
Committee biographies
Michèle J. Saunders, DMD, MS, MPH, is professor of Medicine, Dentistry and Dental Hygiene at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she is director of the South, West and Panhandle Consortium Geriatric Education Center and co-director of the Geriatric Medicine and Dentistry Fellowship Program. Dr. Saunders was the first development board professor of Clinical Dentistry and chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology at that institution from 1993 to 2002. She is also associate director of the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Audie L. Murphy Division of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio.
A triple alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. 1973, D.M.D. 1980, and M.S. 1981), she was one of the first in the United States to be awarded a two-year geriatric fellowship by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1982. During the fellowship, she earned her M.P.H. from the Loma Linda University School of Public Health and began serving on the Board of the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry (ASGD), later serving on the Board of the Federation of Special Care Dentistry, and becoming ASGD president in 1993. Dr. Saunders produced the ASGD manuals and audiovisuals that guide dental office teams and nursing facility staff on how to implement dental programs in the nursing facility — these materials have been adopted by the World Health Organization for use in developed countries.
Dr. Saunders is a national and international expert in geriatric health education; faculty training in education, curriculum and program development, and evaluation; minority elderly health promotion; and is a consultant to a number of state and federal programs and national associations. She has conducted research on the oral health status of minority and veteran elders, and from 1993-2001, directed the $3.7 million dollar Research Center on Oral Health in Aging to study oral health among San Antonio's elderly population entitled "Oral Health: San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging." Dr. Saunders is a past Chair of the Clinical Medicine section of the Gerontological Society of America and section editor of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In 2003, she was named the Joseph C. Valley Gerontological Professional of the Year for “exceptional contributions to promoting gerontology and geriatrics through research, education, clinical training, and community outreach.” This award was given to Dr. Saunders for her “outstanding contributions to geriatrics, and especially to geriatric dentistry locally [in Texas] as well as nationally,” to recognize her “distinguished professional achievements and to honor [her] as a pioneer in the field of geriatric dentistry.”
For more information about the Aging Texas Well Initiative, please contact Michael Wilson, PhD.
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Updated: June 16, 2008
