Wildcat Interprofessional Geroscience Group
Advancing Nursing Geroscience.
The Wildcat Interprofessional Geroscience Group (WIGG) is committed to enhancing the capacity and competency of care providers for older adults.
This mission is accomplished through advancing geroscience, educational development, facilitating the adoption of best practices through key community affiliations, fostering leadership and designing and shaping policy.
WIGG Co-Coordinators
Cheryl Lacasse, PhD, RN, AOCNS
Clinical Professor & Co-Coordinator of the Wildcat Interdisciplinary Geroscience Group
A clinical professor with over 30 years of nursing experience including complex populations with multiple chronic conditions with special emphasis on older adults, cancer survivors, and integrative symptom management. She is a master educator and mentor and her teaching experiences include innovative curriculum development, implementation and evaluation for on-ground entry level programs and online graduate programs. In addition, she focuses her teaching on older adult care, management of individuals with complex chronic illness including cancer, integrative symptom management, and various dimensions of leadership. She is a Fellow in the University of Arizona Center for University Educational Scholarship and her teaching scholarship focuses on innovations in online teaching and learning. Her clinical scholarship and research focuses on exploration of the impact of comorbidity and symptom burden on older adult cancer survivors and predicting critical "tipping points" in frail older adults.
Janice D. Crist, PhD, RN, FWAN, FAAN
Associate Professor & Co-Coordinator of the Wildcat Interdisciplinary Geroscience Group
Dr. Crist’s geroscience includes eliminating disparities in utilization of long term support services, through early identification of tipping points in frail older adults using wearable technology. Her research has a focus of vulnerable populations, especially Mexican American caregiving families, in partnership with the ENCASA Community Advisory Council. She teaches gerontological, qualitative, and transcultural research courses to graduate and undergraduate nursing students. Dr. Crist was named a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE), 2019; is a member of the NHCGNE Advisory Board; and is an Associate Editor, Journal of Transcultural Nursing.
WIGG Board Members
Kimberly Shea, PhD, RN, CHPN
Clinical Associate Professor
Beverly Heasley, RN, MBA, FNGNA
Adjunct Clinical Instructor
Lorraine Martin Plank, PhD, FNP-BC, NP-C, GNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP
Clinical Associate Professor
Deborah Williams, PhD, MSN, MPH, BS
Clinical Assistant Professor
Kathleen Insel, PhD, RN
Professor
Linda Philips, RN, PhD, FAAN, FGSA
Heather Carlisle, PhD, DNP, RN, FNP, AGACNP, CHPN
Clinical Associate Professor
Christina Wyles, RN, MS, MLIS
Program Coordinator
WIGG News
The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to more than double from 46 million today to more than 98 million by 2060. With a majority of its 150 faculty members focused on building healthier futures for older adults, the University of Arizona College Of Nursing proudly joined the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE). The NHCGNE is a collaboration of national and international schools and institutions committed to a mission of enhancing the capacity and competency of nurses to provide quality care for older adults. The mission is accomplished through advancing gerontological nursing science, providing faculty development, facilitating adoption of best practices through key community affiliations, fostering leadership and designing and shaping policy.
Contact Information
Wildcat Interprofessional Geroscience Group
jcrist@arizona.edu / clacasse@arizona.edu
University of Arizona College of Nursing
P.O. Box 210203
Tucson, Arizona 85721-0203
Resources