Faculty and Staff

Randolph J. Nudo, PhD
Director
E-Mail: rnudo@kumc.edu

Randy is Director of the Center on Aging and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology. As Director, Dr. Nudo is responsible for fiscal management of the Center on Aging, coordination of interdisciplinary education, research and service activities, and the development of new programs devoted to the health and well-being of older Kansans.

Deborah provides support for the research programs at the Landon Center on Aging. She also assists in production of the Landon Center's newsletter.

Shannon Basham
Lead Fitness Instructor
Phone: 913-588-0716
E-mail: sbasham@kumc.edu

Shannon is the Lead Fitness Instructor in the Landon Fitness Center.  She leads exercise classes for older adults.  Shannon also teaches low-impact aerobics and stretch and balance classes for the older population.

Dr. Bhattacharya is an Assistant Professor in Geriatric Medicine at the Landon Center on Aging and in Family Medicine with the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Dr. Birch is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Family Medicine and the Landon Center on Aging. His activities include geriatric education of medical students, residents, and faculty. He is also working on development of a home care program and improving transitions of care.

Tanya oversees the video conferencing needs of the Central Plains Geriatric Education Center.  She installs and manages multiple mobile videoconferencing units at remote locations across Kansas and Missouri and assists organizations with existing ITV equipment to become part of the CPGEC network.  She is also responsible for video production of all CPGEC programs. 

Matt Chandler, MBA
Program Director
Phone: 913-588-3094     E-Mail: mchandler@kumc.edu

Matt is Program Director for the Life Enrichment and Wellness programs for the Community Outreach Program.

Sherry is the Education Coordinator for Geriatric Medicine. She coordinates the activities in the Geriatric Fellowship Program, the Internal Medicine and Family Medicine geriatric residency rotations, and geriatric faculty development. Sherry also provides administrative support to the Program Director and Program Manager for the Reynolds Grant.

Diane Clark
Assistant Director
Phone: 913-588-1218     E-Mail: dclark@kumc.edu

Diane leads the Community Outreach Programs team of the Landon Center on Aging. She is also responsible for the day to day operational oversight of the Landon Center on Aging.

Janet Cozza
Information Resource Developer
Phone: 913-588-1266     E-Mail: jcozza@kumc.edu

Janet designs and formats all products for the Landon Center on Aging. She manages, all Landon Center on Aging websites, and on-line course websites. Janet is also part of the Community Outreach Team and is the Images of Aging Photo Contest coordinator.

Jane DeLeon
Administrative Officer
Phone: 913-588-1424     E-Mail: jdeleon@kumc.edu

Jane is the Administrative Officer for the financial area of the Landon Center on Aging.  She assists in the preparation of administrative and financial forms and analyzing data.

Mark Fox
Network Specialist
Phone: 913-588-1296     E-Mail: mfox@kumc.edu

Mark provides computer networking, hardware and software support to all staff and faculty of the Center on Aging. Additionally, Mark operates the Center's audio/visual equipment, which includes setup/technical support for audio/video conferencing. 

Angela Gosserand
Senior Coordinator for Undergraduate Education
Phone: 913-588-1306     E-Mail: agosserand@kumc.edu

Angela is the coordinator of the Medicine Across the Lifespan and the Administrative Assistant for the Kansas Reynolds Grant in Aging. She is responsible for the daily activities in undergraduate medical education.

Jessie M. Huisinga, PhD
Senior Scientist
Phone: 913-9457465    E-Mail: jhuisinga@kumc.edu

Jessie is a Senior Scientist at the Landon Center on Aging and the Human Performance Laboratory Director. She is also an Assistant Professor for the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science.

Myra serves as a social worker to both the Community Outreach Program and the Geriatric Medicine Clinic. She has 15 years experience providing social work service to seniors and their families.

Jane oversees the development, coordination, promotion and implementation of Central Plains Geriatric Education Center programs, products and services, tracks program activities, and assists in the development of grants and contracts..

Nicole is the administrative assistant for the Central Plains Geriatric Education Center.  Her duties include handling accounts receivable, invoices, ordering supplies, program registration, and data entry.  She also assists with program coordination and planning.

Sara Kurtz
Research Associate
Phone: 913-588-5243     E-Mail: skurtz@kumc.edu

Sara Kurtz is a Physical Therapist Assistant with a Masters in Gerontology from the University of Southern California.  She works as a Research Associate at the Landon Center on Aging where she is in charge of coordinating the registry of stroke survivors who are willing to participate in research studies.  Sara also recruits for stroke and healthy aging studies and assists with community outreach for the stroke registry.

Dr. Liu is an associate professor in the department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science and Director of the Landon Center on Aging Human Performance Laboratory. 

Dean E. Mehling, MA
Education Support Technologist
Phone: 913-588-5243
E-mail: dmehling@kumc.edu

Dean is the Education Resource Technologist for the Central Plains Geriatric Education Center.  He designs and updates various websites, publications, and marketing materials for the Center, as well as other computer and ITV assistance.

Linda J. Redford, RN, PhD
Associate Director
Phone: 913-588-1636
E-Mail: lredford@kumc.edu

Linda is the Director of the Geriatric Education Center (GEC) and the Rural Interdisciplinary Training Program (RIT) at the Center on Aging, University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). She is also an Associate Director of the Center on Aging and on the faculty of the School of Nursing at KUMC.

Sally Rigler, MD, MPH, FACP
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of General and Geriatric Medicine 
Landon Center on Aging
Phone: 913-588-1203

Sally Rigler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General and Geriatric Medicine since 1996.

Daniel Swagerty, MD, MPH
Associate Director
Phone: 913-588-1940
E-Mail: dswagert@kumc.edu

Dr. Swagerty  is a full time faculty member in the Departments of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and serves as Associate Director for Medical Education for the Landon Center on Aging. He also coordinates undergraduate, graduate and community focused geriatric medical education.

Miceala's duties include ordering supplies, maintaining office inventory supplies, backup timekeeper, and scheduling and maintaining the events calendar for all classroom and meeting rooms for the Landon Center on Aging. She also serves as receptionist for the Center's administrative offices.

Sharee A. Wiggins, NP, Post-MS(N), APRN, BC-GNP, BC-ANP
Associate Director for Clinical Excellence
Phone:  913-588-3184     E-mail:  swiggins@kumc.edu

NP Wiggins is a post-masters nurse practitioner affiliated with Family Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine. She sees patients and precepts medical students 3 half-days per week in rehab, assisted living, independent living, and nursing facility care settings. She also teaches in the Geriatrics Clerkship for third-year medical students as well as geriatrics course content for second-year students. She has a wide variety of career clinical and educational experiences.

Laura Hughes Zahner
Research Associate
Phone: 913-588-3097     E-mail: lzahner@kumc.edu

Laura is a Research Associate involved in the assessment and treatment of stroke survivors in the human performance lab who are part of several current studies.