Pinnacle Lecture Series

Each semester, the Connell School brings to Boston College an inspiring leader who speaks on an issue at the forefront of health care. Pinnacle lectures are open to all Boston College students, staff, faculty, alumni, and preceptors as well as practitioners and scholars unaffiliated with Boston College. View archived videos of past Pinnacle lectures.

FALL 2026

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PANEL DISCUSSION ON

Healthy Aging and Longevity

Monday, November 16, 2026, 5 p.m.

Yawkey Center, Murray Room

Experts from Boston College, Boston University, the Gerontological Society of America, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab will discuss what it means to age well and strategies to optimize the health and well-being of older populations.

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Panelists

Stacy Anderson

Stacy L. Andersen
Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Co-Director
New England Centenarian Study 

Lisa D'Ambrosio

Lisa D’Ambrosio
Ph.D.

Research Scientist
Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab

Trish D'Antonio

Patricia M. D’Antonio
B.S.Pharm, M.S., M.B.A., BCGPM

Vice President of Policy and Professional Affairs
Gerontological Society of America

Executive Director
National Center to Reframe Aging

Connell School of Nursing faculty portrait of Karen Lyons

Karen Lyons
Ph.D., FGSA

Professor and Elizabeth Power Keohane Faculty Fellow
Connell School of Nursing

Moderator

About the Speakers

Stacy Andersen, Ph.D.

Stacy L. Andersen is an associate professor of medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and a behavioral neuroscientist. Currently the co-director of the New England Centenarian Study, Andersen has been studying healthy aging in centenarians, people over the age of 100, and long-lived families for more than 20 years. While her earlier work involved the investigation of the delay or escape of age-related illnesses and disability in centenarians and their family members, she is now focused on identifying factors that promote optimal cognitive aging and resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and the development of novel methods of detecting early cognitive change using digital technologies.

Lisa D’Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Lisa D’Ambrosio is a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. Her research broadly investigates the attitudes and preferences of older adults and those who care for them. She currently leads the CareHive research consortium, while also performing research on the built environment, transportation, personal technology use, and longevity planning. She received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Trish D’Antonio, B.S.Pharm, M.S., M.B.A., BCGP

Patricia M. D’Antonio is vice president of policy and professional affairs at the Gerontological Society of America and executive director of the National Center to Reframe Aging. A board-certified geriatric pharmacist, she leads national policy, coalition-building, and strategic initiatives focused on aging, research, health and well-being, and vaccine access. Through the National Center to Reframe Aging, she advances proven communication strategies that transform how we think and talk about aging and support initiatives that benefit us all as we age.

Karen Lyons, Ph.D., FGSA

Karen Lyons is a professor and the Elizabeth Power Keohane Faculty Fellow at the Connell School of Nursing. She has a B.A. and M.A. in psychology and a Ph.D. in human development and family studies, with specialization in gerontology. Her program of research has focused on how the family care dyad experiences and navigates illness. Her innovative conceptual and methodological contributions to dyadic science and over two decades of family care research culminated in the Theory of Dyadic Illness Management (2018) with her colleague, Dr. Chris Lee. The theory is currently being used across disciplines to study dyads in cancer, heart failure, and dementia.

Andersen, D’Ambrosio, and D’Antonio are the Dr. Maureen P. McCausland Pinnacle Keynote Speakers for fall 2026.

Continuing Education Contact Hours

This nursing continuing professional development activity is designated for one (1) contact hour provided by Boston College Connell School of Nursing Professional Development and Continuing Education. 

Boston Connell School of Nursing Professional Development and Continuing Education is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by The American Nurses Association Massachusetts, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. 

Past Pinnacle Lecture Speakers

Click on the links below to view past lectures

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