Kara Dassel, PhD, FGSA, FAGHE, FAHSE

Kara Dassel, Ph.D., FGSA, FAGHE, is a professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Utah. Dassel earned her doctorate in Gerontology from the University of Kentucky and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Neuropsychology and Neuroimaging Laboratory at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, and the Academy of Health Science Educators. Her research interests focus on Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD), end-of-life care planning, and caregiver health outcomes. Her team created an advance care planning conversation guide, known as the LEAD Guide (Life-Planning in Early Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias), which serves as the foundation for an NIA-funded clinical trial aimed at promoting engagement in advance care planning in community-based AD/ADRD dyads. Her future goals include expanding her clinical trial research into palliative care settings. Dassel is a member of the editorial boards of The Gerontologist, Educational Gerontology, and the Journal of the Academy of Health Science Educators. On a community level, Dassel has served on the professional advisory board of State Chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association since 2015.