Faculty
Diane J. Martin, PhD, Program Director
Dr. Diane Martin is an associate professor in the graduate school, where she also serves as director of UMB’s Geriatrics & Gerontology Education and Research (GGEAR) program, a state-funded program developed in 1987 to support interprofessional educational and research activities in the field of geriatrics and gerontology. Programs are designed to bolster the well-being of older adults and improve quality of later life. In partnership with the Maryland Area Health Education Centers and other agencies and organizations throughout the state, Dr. Martin develops interprofessional training opportunities related to aging and older adults for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in health science and social science programs, as well as conferences and programs for professionals and the general public across the state.
As an applied gerontologist, Dr. Martin maintains an active interdisciplinary research program supportive of geriatric interprofessional education, workforce development, and quality of later life initiatives (i.e., aging-in-place, person-centeredness, promoting optimal aging). She earned her doctorate in Psychology from Northcentral University, a Master’s in Experimental Psychology from Towson University, and received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Dr. Martin served as a GLOBALtimore Fellow, is a member of the Gerontological Society of America and the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, and currently serves as President of Sigma Phi Omega, the International Academic Honor & Professional Society in Gerontology.
Flavius R. W. Lilly, PhD, MA, MPH
Dr. Flavius Lilly worked in the healthcare industry for more than a decade in senior leadership roles. His focus was in community health improvement, quality care, and organizational development. Currently, he is the Vice Provost of Academic & Student Affairs and Vice Dean at the University of Maryland Graduate School. In these roles, he leads strategic initiatives in new professional master’s degree development and online learning. He is also responsible for providing executive leadership to a broad range of student affairs services. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Wright State University, a Master of Public Health degree from Drexel University, a Master of Arts degree in Applied Sociology, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His primary research interests are in the realm of healthcare improvement for individuals with severe mental illnesses.
Leah Sera, PharmD, MA, BCPS
Dr. Leah Sera is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. She received her PharmD from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in 2010. She completed a pharmacy practice residency at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD and a specialty residency in pain management and palliative care at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. She is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist. Dr. Sera teaches a variety of topics, including pain and palliative care, autoimmune disease, and community pharmacy topics, in required and elective courses in the PharmD curriculum. She also mentors pharmacy students in the Geriatric and Palliative Care Pathway. Dr. Sera has been invited to speak on pain management and palliative care topics at professional pharmacy conferences and at medical centers such as the National Institutes of Health. She has published research on medication prescribing practices in hospice patients in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and in Progress in Palliative Care. Her current research includes prescribing practices in hospice populations, and educational research in the pharmacy practice lab and an elective study skills course. Dr. Sera will be teaching the Palliative Care course.
Jennifer Maxfield-DeCarlo, Ph.D., LCSW-C
Dr. Maxfield-DeCarlo is an Associate Professor and Program Director at MidAmerica Christian University in the Graduate School of Psychology and Counseling. Dr. Maxfield-DeCarlo is also an adjunct instructor at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work where she teaches Death, Dying, and Bereavement and Paradigms of Clinical Social Work Practice. Her clinical work has focused on working with clients throughout the spectrum of managing devastating illness from diagnosis to end-of-life care. Her research interests focus on fostering hope at end-of-life and the treatment of “treatment induced anxiety” through integrative medicine approaches. Dr. Maxfield-DeCarlo completed her Doctorate at Cappella University in Human Services with a specialization in Counseling. Dr. Maxfield-DeCarlo instructs the Caring for the Bereaved course.
Anita Tarzian, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dr. Anita J. Tarzian, PhD, RN is a former surgical oncology nurse, hospice nurse, and returned Peace Corps volunteer who received her doctorate in Nursing (concentrating in Ethics) from the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and a Masters from the same university in Intercultural Nursing. She currently serves as Program Coordinator for the Maryland Health Care Ethics Committee Network, which is run out of the Law and Health Care Program at UMB's Francis King Carey School of Law. She is also an Associate Professor at the UMB School of Nursing, and an independent ethics & research consultant. Dr. Tarzian's professional focus has been in clinical and research ethics, including clinical ethics consultation in acute and long-term care settings, ethics education, palliative care, hospice/end-of-life care, the influence of culture on health care decision-making, and disability rights. Dr. Tarzian will co-instruct Death and Dying: Legal and Ethical Considerations.