2025 EAS Event Program - Flipping Book

Adria Navarro, PhD. LCSW, FGSA Program Manager University Southern California (USC) Verdugo Hills Hospital Dr. Adria Navarro graduated from USC in 2011 with a doctorate in gerontology after spending over two decades in healthcare as a licensed clinical social worker. She currently serves as the Program Manager at the USC-VHH Community Resource Center for Aging and is also a faculty member for the Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) at Azusa Pacific University (APU). In both roles, she focuses on an interdisciplinary approach to addressing the challenges older adults face.

Dr. Navarro aims to optimize practices, interventions, and environmental support for this population. Her training interests include dementia care and addressing incidents of elder mistreatment, which depend on understanding a client’s cognitive function. She recognizes the critical importance of assessing decisional capacity, particularly when making person-centered care decisions that significantly affect clients’ lives. Throughout her career, Dr. Navarro has held roles in hospitals and community-based healthcare programs while actively participating in professional associations such as the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), and the American Society on Aging (ASA). She has also held academic positions, including Associate Professor of Social Work at Azusa Pacific University and Assistant Clinical Professor at Keck Medicine of USC. In 2022, she conducted qualitative research in England to explore the role of social workers in assessing mental capacity. Dr. Navarro unifies her practice, teaching, and research with the commitment to “professionally honor older adults’ preferences, safety, and well-being.”

Dr. Tonia Nguyen Head of Product Embodied Labs

Dr. Tonia Nguyen leads the Product and Engineering team at Embodied Labs, where she drives the development of immersive learning experiences that help caregivers, healthcare professionals, and aging services providers build empathy and improve person-centered care. Through extended reality (XR) technologies, her work brings to life the lived experiences of older adults, helping stakeholders across the care spectrum deepen their understanding of aging-related challenges.

With a psychology and occupational therapy background, Dr. Nguyen is passionate about using technology to advance dignity, connection, and well-being for people across the lifespan and aging journey. Her clinical doctorate focused on the role of occupational therapists in shaping and implementing technology solutions that support meaningful aging. She brings a range of hands-on experience from hospital, home health, and DME consulting settings, as well as time on an innovation team within the senior living industry, where she championed technology adoption to enrich resident lives and staff engagement. Dr. Nguyen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy, and a Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD), all from the University of Southern California.

32 2025 Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Symposium