ADRD Conference Speakers
Berneet Kaur, MD, MAS
Erlanger Health System, Neurologist, Director, Memory and Aging Service
Dr. Kaur grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. She attended Louisiana State University where she explored her interests in geriatrics and neuroscience. Dr. Kaur attended Medical School at The University of Texas Medical School in Houston. Her residencies of internal medicine and neurology were at UT Houston Medical School. Dr. Kaur’s fellowship training was in Behavioral Health and Neuropsychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has also completed a master’s degree in Clinical Research Methodology from UC Davis in California where she also served as an assistant clinical professor. She has been at Erlanger Neurology since 2015 and directs the Memory and Aging Service.
Monica Crane, MD
Genesis Neuroscience Clinic, Medical Director
Dr. Crane is a fellowship-trained geriatric medicine physician who has been recognized as an expert in multidisciplinary dementia care regionally and in the Southeast. Her sole career focus has been the clinical care, treatment and support for patients and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease and the related dementias.
She completed her undergraduate degree at Yale University and her medical school training at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Dr. Crane completed her residency and fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. During her fellowship, she was honored as a new investigator by the NIMH for her study of the behavioral symptoms due to Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Crane was a founding member of the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias. Dr. Crane has received numerous clinical and research awards in the areas of Alzheimer's disease, geriatric depression, frontotemporal dementia and end-of-life care.
Dr. Crane is the founder and medical director of Genesis Neuroscience Clinic, a multidisciplinary memory disorders clinic. The clinic provides the evidence-based care for cognitive impairment and the neurodegenerative dementias and more than 4500 patients have been seen. Since the clinic opened in 2017, Dr. Crane has been the PI for five major clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, partnering with the Center for Biomedical Research. Additionally, the clinic is converting to a nonprofit practice under the parent non-profit Tennessee Memory Disorders Foundation. This unique model of care incorporates support from local non-profits including Alzheimer’s Tennessee, Knox County Senior Services, the Purple Cities Alliance and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. The goal of the foundation is to support comprehensive community care for persons with the neurodegenerative dementias and to mentor students and professionals to become future leaders in dementia care.
Prior to 2017, Dr. Crane was Director of Clinical Research as well as the Associate Director of Cole Neuroscience Clinic. Dr. Crane is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UT-Knoxville, Graduate School of Medicine.
Dr. Crane has served on the Board of Directors at Alzheimer’s Tennessee since 2007. She has been a leader in the Outreach Workgroup for the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. Dr. Crane has been recognized as a leader by the East Tennessee community as an inductee of Leadership Knoxville and the Executive Woman’s Association. Under her leadership, the Knoxville community started a frontotemporal dementia conference and a community-wide educational series with the goal of raising Alzheimer’s awareness.
Kristi Wick, DNP, FNP-BC, GS-C
Vicky B. Gregg Chair of Gerontology, Assistant Professor, UTC School of Nursing
Dr. Wick currently serves as the Vicky B. Gregg Chair of Gerontology and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga’s School of Nursing. As a Family Nurse Practitioner and Geriatric Specialist, Dr. Wick has worked to improve the care of older adults through community collaboration, clinical practice, and education efforts. Dr. Wick was recently appointed by Governor Lee to the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability as well as the Tennessee COVID-19 Long Term Care Task Force. Dr. Wick is the principal investigator for the Tennessee Department of Health’s Dementia Friendly Community initiative awarded to UTC’s School of Nursing in 2020. Dr. Wick volunteers as a Nurse Practitioner for Purpose Point Community Health, a faith-based community primary care clinic, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Speech and Hearing Center both in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Adele Lewis, MD
State of Tennessee, Chief Medical Examiner
Adele Lewis received her MD at the University of Alabama. After completing a Trauma/Surgical Critical Care fellowship at Vanderbilt, she entered the Anatomic Pathology residency program, followed by a one‐ year fellowship at the Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County medical examiner’s office. She served as the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County from 2010 to 2016. In 2016, she was appointed to fill the newly‐created role of Deputy State Chief Medical Examiner and became the State Chief Medical Examiner in 2019. Dr. Lewis is active in organized medicine, serving as a Delegate to the Tennessee Medical Association House of Delegates since 2011 and as chair of the TMA Public Health Committee since 2015. She is the only person to have served two terms as President of the Nashville Academy of Medicine and was awarded the Tennessee Medical Association Distinguished Service Award in 2017. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Dr. Rodney Lewis, and their three children.
Betsy Reed, Health Systems Director, Alzheimer’s Association
Betsy Reed is the Health System’s Director for region eight covering the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. She has been with the Alzheimer’s Association for approximately a year and a half. Betsy’s passion is helping every individual with Alzheimer’s Disease or any other dementia receive the care, support, and the resources they need regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographical location.
She has a master’s degree in healthcare administration and is currently working on her business administration and healthcare management doctoral dissertation in a topic related to her passion of helping patients with dementia. Betsy has a strong background in healthcare quality, patient safety and healthcare risk management as reflected by her numerous certifications in good standing.
Betsy was born and raised in Mexico City and currently lives in Nashville Tennessee with her husband and two teenage sons.
Patti L. Killingsworth, Chief of Long-Term Services & Supports, Bureau of TennCare, Tennessee
Patti Killingsworth is an Assistant Commissioner for TennCare and the Chief of Long-Term Services & Supports (LTSS). She is a nationally recognized leader and highly sought-after expert and adviser in home and community-based services (HCBS), managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS), value-based purchasing for LTSS, and initiatives to improve care for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. She has worked in Medicaid programs for over two decades, leading system redesign initiatives in multiple states. Her commitment is to transforming LTSS systems to better meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities and their families, promoting the development and expansion of cost-effective HCBS options, and ensuring that that the voice and perspective of older adults, people with disabilities, family members, and other key stakeholders is brought to bear in policy and program decision-making processes.
Laura Thornhill, Senior Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement
Laura Thornhill is the Senior Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, for the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement. She has served in this role since 2013, advancing policy for persons with dementia, caregivers, and health professionals through federal agencies like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Food and Drug Administration. Prior to joining the Association, Laura influenced nursing policy issues, such as scope of practice and education, in AARP’s Public Policy Institute and at the American Academy of Nursing. A proud Midwesterner, she is a graduate of the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.
