5:00 PM – 7:00 PM | Welcome Reception

2026 Roybal Annual Meeting

Agenda

Arrival - Wednesday May 13

Day 1 - Thursday May 14 - Grand Ballroom

Day 2 - Friday May 15 - Grand Ballroom

Welcome Reception – Located in the Hip Flask Rooftop Bar Hotel will offer a welcome reception with hors d’oeuvres in the Hip Flask Rooftop Bar (located on the Penthouse level) for guests who arrive on Wednesday, May 13.

2026agenda

Speakers

Melissa Riddle, PhD is the Health Scientist Administrator in the Division of Behavioral and Social Research, at the National Institute on Aging (NIA). She directs an intervention research program focused on behavioral and social interventions relevant to caregiving, including interventions meant to support individuals with cognitive impairment and the people who care for them. This program is situated in the Individual Behavioral Processes Branch, in the Division of Behavioral and Social Research, at the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The program supports rigorous intervention development guided by the NIH Stage Model, with the ultimate goals of developing effective interventions that meet the needs of the individuals and/or communities for which they are developed, and that can be implemented where they are needed.

Ana-Maria Vranceanu, PhD is a clinical health psychologist, the David T. Rovee PhD and Joanne V. Rovee Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, and Founding Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research program focuses on improving the lives of older adults, those with serious illness, their family caregivers and dyads in both hospital and community settings, with a strong emphasis on dementia/dementia care and dyadic interventions. She has extensive expertise with the development, testing, and implementation of behavioral and lifestyle interventions using the NIH Stage Model and Science of Behavior Change principles. Dr. Vranceanu has a strong passion for teaching and mentoring and co-leads the Bridge the Gap T32, the Dementia Palliative Care R25, the Research and Education Core of the MGH Dementia Resource Center for Minority Aging Research and the Lifespan Health Track of the MGH Internship in Clinical Psychology.

Sara J. Czaja, PhD, is the Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor of Medicine and Professor of Gerontology and the Director of the Center on Aging and Behavioral Research in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has extensive experience in Aging research both theoretical and applied, and coordination and leadership of multi-site collaborations. She is the PI of the NIA funded multi-site Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) and the Co-Director of the ENHANCE (Enhancing Neurocognitive Health, Abilities, Networks, & Community Engagement) Center, funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, with a focus on how technology can support older adults living with cognitive impairment. Her research interests include aging and cognition, aging and healthcare informatics, caregiving, human-computer interaction, training, and functional assessment.

She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Gerontological Society of America. She also served as a member of the National Academy of Science Board on Human Systems Integration. She is a Past President of Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging) of APA and recently served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Healthy Cognitive Aging and the Institute of Medicine Committee on Family Caregivers of Older Adults.

Dr. Czaja is the recipient of the 2015 M. Powell Lawton Distinguished Contribution Award for Applied Gerontology, of the American Psychological Association (APA), the 2013 Social Impact Award for the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the 2013 Jack A. Kraft Award for Innovation from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, The Franklin V. Taylor Award, Division 21, APA), and the M. Powell Lawton Award of the Gerontological Society of America (2020).

Aaron Hogue, PhD is a Clinical Psychologist who is Senior Vice President and Director of Family and Adolescent Clinical Technology & Science at Partnership to End Addiction. His research interests include family involvement in youth substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services; adoption and sustainability of family therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth substance use and co-occurring problems in routine care; fidelity and implementation research on evidence-based practices for youth behavioral health problems; family-centered decision-making about medications for youth with substance use and mental health disorders; and family-focused screening and brief intervention for adolescent substance use in primary care.

Ian Kronish, MD, MPH is Co-Director of the Columbia Roybal Center for Fearless Behavior Change. He is also a practicing general internist based at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Associate Director of the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health. His program of research is dedicated to advancing behavioral interventions that improve psychological distress and health behaviors in patients that have experienced acute cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and stroke. He is also co-Director of the Columbia Hypertension Center and conducts implementation science research aimed at increasing the uptake of evidence-based hypertension guidelines into primary care.

Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, is the founding Director of the Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) and the Mark V. Pauly President’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Health Care Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has led CHIBE since its inception turning it into an entity that involves more than 90 faculty members and trainees across the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as the American Heart Association (AHA) Chief Behavioral Economist and Scientific Director of the AHA Health Care by Food Initiative, which is testing the effectiveness and cost effectiveness nationally of food is medicine programs. Research led by his team has led to a number of benefit design changes and program innovations used by millions of individuals at large employers and health plans and consumer companies. His research has been recognized by numerous awards including the Mathilda White Riley award for social and behavioral sciences from NIH, an AHA Distinguished Scientist Award, the John Eistenberg Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine, and election to the National Academy of Medicine.

Emily Largent, JD, PhD, RN is an internationally recognized bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, where she is Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and the Emanuel and Robert Hart Associate Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. She holds a secondary appointment at Penn Law and is affiliated with the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE). Dr. Largent studies ethical and regulatory aspects of human subjects research, with a particular focus on pragmatic clinical trials and research with vulnerable populations. She also studies ethical, legal, clinical, and social implications of our changing understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. She has published widely in leading academic journals and has grants from the Greenwall Foundation and the National Institute on Aging.

Ana Abraído-Lanza, PhD is Vice Dean and Professor of Social Work at Columbia University’s School of Social Work. Her research focuses on cultural, psychological, social, and structural factors that affect health and mortality among Latinos; health disparities between Latinos and non-Latino whites; and the health of immigrant Latinos. Her research on the Latino mortality epidemiologic paradox and on acculturation have contributed to national and international debates on the health of Latinos. Prior to joining Columbia’s School of Social Work, she was Vice Dean and Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, and Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Her honors and awards include the Dalmas Taylor Distinguished Contributions Award from the Minority Fellowship Program of the American Psychological Association, the Student Assembly Public Health Mentoring Award from the American Public Health Association, the Mailman School’s Teaching Excellence Award, and she was a Columbia University Provost Leadership Fellow. She served on the Community Task Force on Preventive Services of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and on Editorial Boards of Health Education and Behavior, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and Preventing Chronic Disease.

Clara Berridge, PhD, MSW, is a social gerontologist and Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work. For fifteen years, she has studied the ethical and policy implications of data and information technologies used in care, from remote monitoring systems to social companions. Her intervention research engages people living with dementia in decision making about how these technologies should be used in their care. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of California Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research at Brown University.

Robert Motl, PhD has systematically developed a research agenda that focuses on physical activity and its measurement, predictors, consequences, and interventions in persons with neurological diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis (MS). Prof. Motl has generated a body of research on the validity of common physical activity measures in persons with MS. This has resulted in foundational research on quantifying differences in physical activity, particularly rates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, in persons with MS. These two lines of research have provided the basis for examining the outcomes of physical activity in MS, particularly beneficial adaptations in brain structure, cognition, depression, fatigue, walking disability, and quality of life. Prof. Motl has undertaken research on social-cognitive predictors of physical activity that has informed the design of behavioral interventions for increasing physical activity in MS. This agenda serves as a test-bed for application and expansion into other conditions such as spinal cord injury and Parkinson’s disease.

Imama A. Naqvi, PhD, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Columbia University in the Division of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, where she serves as the Director of Outpatient Stroke Services. Her clinical research focuses on mitigating inequities in post-stroke outcomes at transitions of care with behavioral interventions using biomedical informatics and innovative team-based approaches. She is supported by the NIH/NINDS K23 mentored award and serves as site-principal investigator for NIH/NINDS/NIA sponsored multi-center clinical trials and prospective studies.

Manka Nkimbeng, PhD, MPH, BSN is a nurse scientist and assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and an Affiliate assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Before that, she was a Robert L. Kane Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She received her Ph.D. in nursing from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, her MPH from the Boston University School of Public Health, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She works with communities to develop and test culturally appropriate interventions that can be translated into health policies and clinical practice to improve health and eliminate health inequities for older adults. Her research and community leadership have been recognized with awards, including the 2024 University of Minnesota School of Public Health Equity Impact Award and the 2024-2026 Bush Fellowship.

2026annual meeting speakers

Hotel
Accommodations

May 13-15

Location

Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ

Address

7707 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814

Book your stay

Please book your hotel accommodations by April 8, 2026 to receive the government rate. We have reserved a block of sleeping rooms at the Marriot Bethesda Downtown at Marriot HQ hotel, based on the meeting/travel dates, and they will be billed directly to your credit card at checkout. Upon check-in, you will be required to present a credit card to cover charges incurred during your stay. Your credit card will be charged for any room charge, hotel incidentals, late cancellations, or no-show charges.

Hotel check-in begins at 4:00 pm on May 13th and check-out is 12:00 pm on May 15th. Please view the hotel’s website for additional information about the amenities and surrounding attractions.

Local Area
Information

Map of restaurants in the area within walking distance from the hotel

Questions?

The Roybal Coordinating Center
The Roybal Coordinating Center (PI: Karina Davidson) will be hosting the Roybal Annual Meeting.

For any questions related to meeting content, please contact:
RoybalNIAcenters@northwell.edu

Rose Li and Associates, Inc.
Rose Li and Associates, Inc. (RLA), under contract with the National Institute on Aging (NIA), is pleased to provide logistical support.

2026 Roybal Annual Meeting

Agenda