Benjamin T Mast Editor & Author

Peter A. Lichtenberg, PhD, ABPP, is director of The Institute of Gerontology and the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute. He is also a professor of psychology at Wayne State University, USA. He received his bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and his master's and doctorate in clinical psychology from Purdue University, USA. After his internship, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in geriatric neuropsychology at the University of Virginia Medical School, USA, where he also became a faculty member. A clinician and researcher throughout his career, Dr. Lichtenberg has made contributions to the practice of psychology across a variety of areas, including long-term care, medical rehabilitation with those suffering from late life depression, and age-related dementias. In 1997, he was awarded a diplomate in rehabilitation psychology, and in 2013 the diplomate in clinical geropsychology. Dr. Lichtenberg is active in his research on issues related to capacity assessment, late life depression, minority health and aging, dementia, and disability. He has written three books and edited three more and has more than 150 peer reviewed publications. His current work is particularly interested in the intersection between financial capacity and elder justice; finding ways to balance autonomy and protection for older adults. In 1012, he published an article on Alzheimer's disease in capacity cases and, in 2013, the first nationally representative study on predictors of older adult fraud victims. He recently completed the creation of the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Making Rating Scale, a tool to be used to assess major financial decisions and/or transactions of older adults.

Benjamin T. Mast, PhD, is associate professor and vice chair in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville, USA. He is also an associate clinical professor in the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine. He received his bachelor's degree from Calvin College, USA and his masters and doctoral degree from Wayne State University, USA. Before joining the faculty at the University of Louisville, USA, he completed his internship at the University of Washington School of Medicine, USA. He has been named a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, Professional Caregiver of the Year by the Alzheimer's Association, and has received a New Investigator Award from the American Geriatrics Society. His research, teaching, and clinical interests span a range of topics within geropsychology including geriatric depression, evaluations of dementia syndromes, and most recently, the integration of person-centered care into the evaluation of people with dementia and other cognitive changes. He has published more than 60 papers and book chapters, and two books on dementia assessment and care.