Founding Board Members
Jim and Geri
Since 2012, Jim & Geri Taylor have spoken to over ten thousand people around the US and Europe in order to educate others about the disease, reduce stigma, and encourage participation in clinical trials. In 2020, Geri and Jim Taylor were awarded the Perennial Hero Award by Alliance for Aging Research for their Alzheimer’s advocacy. Together, the Taylors created the concept for and led the development of the MAP program.
Hear more about Jim & Geri’s story here: Jim and Geri: On “being OK” with Alzheimer’s
Jim Taylor, MBA
Jim Taylor has a math degree from DePaul University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Mr. Taylor’s military service in the US Army included tours in Washington and Europe. During his 30 years in IBM finance, Mr. Taylor served four years as President of the Board of Education in White Plains, New York. Mr. Taylor currently serves as an FDA appointed Alzheimer’s Patient Advocate, attending FDA meetings to review new drugs and devices. He also serves as the research and clinical trials advocate for the MAP program.
Geri Taylor, MPH, RN
Geri Taylor has an MPH from Columbia University with a concentration in biostatistics and an RN degree. During her 45-year career, she was a successful health care executive in New York City, serving in senior executive positions at Beth Abraham Hospital and the Jewish Guild for the Blind. Ms. Taylor’s legacy includes developing a Medicare/Medicaid program to provide medical services to nursing home eligible seniors, enabling them to remain at home. This program is now serving approximately eighty thousand people in New York City. Ms. Taylor was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2012, and currently serves as a MAP program advisor.
Sarah Walter, MSc
Sarah Walter has a Master of Science degree in Gerontology from King’s College, London. She is the Program Administrator for the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) and for the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) at the University of Southern California. Ms. Walter is currently leading multiple initiatives to promote the inclusion of participant perspectives in the design and conduct of research studies. She draws on 20 years of experience across the spectrum of clinical trials, from participant recruitment, conducting assessments, to clinical monitoring, data management, and project and program administration. Ms. Walter chairs the ACTC Research Participant Advisory Board and is co- chair for the Advisory Group on Risk Evidence Education for Dementia (AGREED) Community Stakeholder subcommittee. She is the MAP NYC pilot program evaluator.
Board of Directors
Olga Brawman-Mintzer, MD
Olga Brawman-Mintzer, MD has a medical degree from The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem. Dr. Brawman-Mintzer is a tenured Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and a Co-director of the South Carolina Institute for Brain Health. She has conducted research focused on anxiety and mood disorders and their interface with cognitive impairment as well as areas of dementia, primarily Alzheimer’s. She has also served as the Medical Director for CNS Research and Business Development for The Clinical Innovation Group/MUSC Foundation for Research Development and the Director of Anxiety Disorders Program at MUSC. Dr. Brawman-Mintzer’s expertise is enriched by her personal experience living in multiple countries, familiarity with different cultures, and being a daughter of Holocaust survivors. As a daughter of a mother with Alzheimer’s disease she is keenly aware of the challenges facing patients and their families.
Sean Stanton
Sean Stanton has dedicated the last 30 years of his career to creating successful, high-performing research sites. Mr. Stanton has led the start-up of 27 clinical trial sites, six inpatient hospitals, and 19 outpatient clinics. More than 5,000 clinical trials have been conducted at these sites, leading to more than 50 drug approvals. He is the co-founder of K2 Medical Research, a highly successful clinical research site dedicated to beating Alzheimer’s Disease. Prior to this he was the co-Founder of the largest single research site called Compass Research. Mr. Stanton is now leading a team of dedicated researchers in a new endeavor consulting for the top pharmaceutical and biotech companies around the world, offering his knowledge and expertise of connecting problems to solutions through K2 Medical Research.
Mollie Richards, MS
Mollie Richards earned her BS degree in Occupational Therapy from Indiana University School of Medicine and her Master of Science degree from Syracuse University. Mollie is a retired Director of Rehabilitation programs at Jewish Senior Life in Rochester New York, and the Memory Care Service Line Manager. She was appointed by the governor of New York state to the Coordinating Council for Services Related to Alzheimer’s disease and other related Dementia. Mollie currently serves as a Community Educator and a member of the board of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana Chapter. She also serves on the Community Advisory Board of Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of Indiana University School of Medicine. Mollie served on the Alzheimer’s Associations FY23-25 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee Strategic Planning group.
Ralph Richards
Ralph Richards earned his BS degree in Radiological Business Management from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, his Advanced BS in Professional Studies for Medical Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Upstate Medical University, School of Health Professional. He earned his professional certificate in diagnostic Radiographic Health Imaging Sciences at the University of Maryland. Ralph is a retired Director of the Eastman Kodak Company. Along with his wife, Mollie initiated their advocacy work in Rochester New York and the Fingerlakes on Advocacy spearheading the first of its kind partnership with faith communities. In 2019, Ralph partnered with researchers at Indiana University to develop and present Developing Culturally Sensitive Recruitment Materials about Alzheimer’s Disease Related Biomarkers.
Ralph is veteran of the US Navy and has been awarded a purple heart for wounds received in combat, and recipient of the US Presidential Unit Citation for the US Marines (Republic of South Vietnam) Tet Offensive. Ralph currently serves as a Community Educator and a member of the board of Directors of the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana Chapter. He also serves on the Community Advisory Board of Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center of Indiana University School of Medicine.
Karen Bell, MD
Karen Bell is a Bronx native and completed her undergraduate studies at New York University and earned her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr. Bell is currently a Professor of Neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, in the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain and an Attending Physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Bell’s clinical practice focuses on the evaluation and treatment of neurodegenerative cognitive disorders, and her research interests at the Taub Institute include the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease through clinical trials. She was the Director of the Minority Recruitment Core for the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, and is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, and Education in Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trial committee and Recruitment Committee for the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium. Her special interest is in achieving ethnic diversity in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials on a national level.