Jennifer Severance, PhD, MS, CMC is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, with over 20 years as a gerontologist with experience in dementia care, public health systems, and interdisciplinary workforce development. Her research focuses on improving access to high-quality care for older adults and family caregivers, especially those in underserved, rural, or under-resourced communities, through community partnerships, aging services infrastructure, and systems-level change. Through multiple federally and state-funded projects, including as Principal Investigator of a $5 million HRSA Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), she has led efforts to implement and evaluate age-friendly and dementia-friendly care models across academic, clinical, and public health settings. Her work includes designing mixed-methods research protocols, coordinating stakeholder engagement, and building cross-sector collaborations that scale evidence-based innovations into real-world practice. She has served in leadership roles with the Texas Public Health Association, the National Association for Geriatric Education, and Dementia Friendly Fort Worth reflect a longstanding commitment to equitable, collaborative, and actionable approaches to aging-related research and care delivery. She is certified as a geriatric care manager (CMC) and dementia practitioner (CDP) and is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Texas Public Health Association. In 2025, she was appointed to the Texas Statewide Interagency Aging Services Coordinating Council.