Board MEMBERS

CAROLE SCHWARTZ, MS, GERONTOLOGY, OTR

Immediate Past President

Carole Schwartz M.S., Gerontology, OTR is immediate past President of the Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education; Schwartz was ADHCE.org's President from 2024-2026;   Vice President from 2022 - July/2024   &   Board Member (since 2021).

Schwartz currently contributes to a variety of professional healthcare education, advocacy and quality improvement projects. Schwartz continues to coauthor publications related to disability and healthcare inequity for persons with disabilities; as well as topics related to healthcare quality measures.  Schwartz is particularly interested in topics related to disability health care curriculum equity for persons with all cause impairments of cognition and communication. The gaps in clinicians’ curriculum regarding assessment and care planning for this population was exemplified and personal when caring for her late non-speaking/non-signing stepdaughter with profound disabilities.

Schwartz's over 30 years of combined experience as a professional clinical occupational therapist (acute and post-acute care rehabilitation settings) and worked in research and development of quality health care measures at Research Triangle Institute Intnl., Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR- Shirley Ryan Ability Lab), Il Dept. on Aging as Senior Policy Advisor working with Aging populations with disabilities. In addition, disability healthcare advocacy organizations and as an Adjunct faculty at RUSH University and Concordia University. Carole Schwartz's Career and Publication details can be found by clicking on the following links at LinkedIn  and  ResearchGate 

Dr. Sarah Ailey, PhD, RN, CDDN, FAAN

Email Me | LinkedIn

Dr. Sarah Ailey is a professor in the Department of Community, Systems, and Mental Health Nursing at Rush University, Chicago, IL. Her research and scholarly practice are concentrated on improving the lives of people with disabilities, in particular intellectual disabilities, by translating research into practice within community and inpatient hospital settings. 

She is the Principal Investigator for the Partnering with Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Transform Health Outcomes (PATH-PWIDD) Program, funded by the Administration for Community Living. The  program addresses gaps in health professions training programs by embedding disability-related content on the health care of individuals with IDD into an interprofessional health education curriculum. Advocates with IDD and family advocates are active in all components of the program. Sarah is also the Principal Investigator for the Steps to Effective Problem-solving (STEPS) program in group homes, funded by an R01 grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute. She has been the advisor and/or content by translating research into practice within community and inpatient hospital settings expert for at least 40 PhD, DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) and MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) students on projects related to the care of people with disabilities, mostly related to intellectual disabilities.

____________________________________________________________________________

Doreen Bestolarides, r.n. 

Email Me |  LinkedIn                                                                                                              

Doreen Bestolarides is a retired active board member and AADMD Executive Board Parent Advocacy, She is on the DDNA Nursing Practice Committee. Doreen is a National speaker on topics related to IDD health equity. Doreen also is a parent and professional advocate with over three decades of hospital nursing experience, with a focus in critical care. She has dedicated the direction of her nursing career, by developing a nursing role, to better serve hospitalized patients with Developmental Disabilities. She has continued that advocacy in her personal life to not only be a resource and educator in her own community, but to pursue her vision on the national stage through organizations such as DDNA- Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association on the Practice Committee, defining Nursing practice standards; AADMD - American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry and serving as Board member for ADHCE- Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education. She is the 2021 recipient of the AADMD Family Advocacy Award. She retired from hospital nursing in 2020

_____________________________________________________________________________

Rebecca kronk, phd, msn crnp, anef, faan, cne

Dr. Rebecca Kronk is a certified pediatric nurse practitioner with a PhD in Developmental Psychology. Her practice specialty has always been within pediatric genetics and disability nursing. Dr. Kronk was trained as a fellow in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) at the University of Pittsburgh where her work focused on the clinical application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to children with disabilities. She has presented both nationally and internationally on genomics and disability health care with an emphasis on diverse and vulnerable populations. Grant funding has supported her work in creating the Consultant with Disability Simulation Program at Duquesne University School of Nursing and Stages II Camp for youth with disabilities. Dr. Kronk has served on the Board and as president of the Alliance for Disability Health Care Education.
In her professional role  Dr. Kronk is a Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Duquesne University School of Nursing, Pittsburgh PA. 

Dr. Rebecca Kronk was a former President of ADHCE. To read about her enormous contributions via publications and scholarship Dr Kronk has provided click here (after opening the link scroll down that page to review her abundant contributions). 

beth latemir, dnp, gnp-bc, chse, anef, fnyam

Email Me   I   LinkedIn

Beth Latimer, DNP, GNP-BC, CHSE, ANEF, FNYAM, is a Clinical Professor and

Executive Director of the Joan K. Stout, RN, FAAN, Clinical Simulation Learning

Centerat NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. As a Golisano Fellow and

board-certified Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Latimer specializes in the

intersection of aging, disability, and inclusive healthcare. She is a

recognized leader in Diversity, Inclusion,and Accessibility (DIA),

serving on the NYU DIA Working Group and the New York State

Supported Decision Making Project legislative workgroup.

Her scholarship, funded by organizations including the Sigma

Foundation and NLN, focuses on integrating disability

competencies into clinical simulation to improve outcomes for all populations.

anna C. Quon  PhD, MBA HM, BSN, RN, AMB-BC, NEA-BC

Email Me   I   LinkedIn

Dr.  Anna C. Quon, PhD, MBA HM, BSN, RN, AMB-BC, NEA-BC is an Assistant Professor at Rush University College of Nursing. Her work focuses on advancing health equity for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), with an emphasis on strengthening health professional education and practice. Dr. Quon brings nearly two decades of health system experience, including supporting clinician education, leading evidence-based practice initiatives, and advancing research in complex care environments. She is a Co-Investigator on an NIH-funded R01 study focused on addressing diagnostic overshadowing in populations with disabilities. Her research portfolio spans a broad range of studies across clinical and health services research, including roles as principal investigator and co-investigator. She holds leadership roles across healthcare organizations, including serving on the Board of Trustees for the Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education (ADHCE), the Idaho Center for Nursing Steering Committee, and the Board of Directors for the American Nurses Association–Idaho. Her work is grounded in a sustained commitment to improving health systems and outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Link to faculty page: https://www.rushu.rush.edu/faculty/anna-quon-phd-mba-hm-bsn-rn-amb-bc-nea-bc

Rick Rader, MD.

• Dr. Rick Rader is a Physician, cross trained in internal medicine and medical anthropology. Board certified in Developmental Medicine
• President, American Association on Health and Disability (aahd.us)
• Co-founder (and current VP of External Affairs), American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry
• Member, Executive Committee, Friends of the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
• National Medical Advisor, National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADP)
• Director of the Habilitation Center, Orange Grove Center, Chattanooga TN
• Editor in chief, HELEN, The Journal of Human Exceptionality
• Board, National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices
• Distinguished Practitioner and Member, National Academy of Practice in Medicine
• First Special Liaison for Family Health Concerns, Presidents Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities
• Adjunct Faculty, University of Tennessee College of Medicine
• Adjunct Faculty, University of Pennsylvania School of Oral Medicine
• Published 300 articles on health and disability
• Consultant to the office of the Surgeon General (Developmental Disabilities)
• Advisor - Council on Dental Accreditation   ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cara N. Whalen Smith,  PT, DPT, MPH, CHES

Dr. Cara Whalen Smith is an Accessibility Consultant at the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center (GRC). She leads the GRC Access Office where she serves as GRC’s Digital Accessibility Designee to direct all GRC accessibility activities and serves as a Project Director/Principal Investigator for healthcare workforce development and health promotion projects to improve health outcomes for people with disabilities. She is also Adjunct Faculty for The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences where she teaches the course “Global Health and Disability” for graduate interdisciplinary health professional students. As a public health physical therapist, Dr. Whalen Smith is a licensed physical therapist and a Certified Health Education Specialist with expertise in accessibility, universal design, program planning, implementation, evaluation, and community health assessment. Dr. Whalen Smith has devoted her career to improving access to health care and the community for people with disabilities.

Dr. Whalen Smith brings to GRC more than a decade of experience and expertise in clinical and public health topics related to developmental, mobility, sensory, and intellectual disability. She has treated patients across the lifespan in the clinic, hospital, school, home, and community settings. She has held several academic and clinical teaching appointments locally and internationally on a variety of disability and health topics for interprofessional students and clinicians. Most notably, Dr. Whalen Smith was a member of both the Core Competencies Development Committee as a health professional representative and the evaluation lead of the Ohio Disability and Health Program responsible for establishing national consensus on the Core Competencies on Disability for Health Care Education.  Read more about Dr. Whalen Smith Here