Board of Directors

Meet Our Board of Directors

Dr. Jane Mahakian, President

Dr. Jane is a gerontologist and author who has worked and advocated for 30 years in the “realm of forgetfulness.” She specializes in helping adults (and their families) with cognitive impairment, caused primarily by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. She was previously an adjunct faculty member at the University of California San Francisco Institute for Health & Aging.

John D. Boyajian, Vice-President

John D. Boyajian, P.E. assisted in creating the Alzheimers’s Care Armenia Inc. model and is Vice President. John ensures that the plans, policies and objectives of ACA maintains its values and meets established goals. John has made significant contributions to unique and complex businesses throughout the past 40 years. John has received numerous accolades form industry groups, and the State of California and Federal Legislatures. This experience includes business modeling, finance, human resources, marketing, product/service development, new ventures, operations, organization, and quality.

 

Dr. Tatjana Novakovic-Agopian, Secretary

Dr. Tatjana Novakovic-Agopian is a Rehabilitation Neuropsychologist at the San Francisco Veteran Administration Health Care System (SFVAHCS) where she also directs Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – Polytrauma Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship. She is also an Associate Clinical Professor at the Department of Psychiatry University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Dr.  Novakovic-Agopian has received her graduate education from the Johns Hopkins University and California School of Professional Psychology, and her postdoctoral training at UCSF. Her clinical interests and expertise include assessment and cognitive rehabilitation/reintegration of individuals recovering from brain injury. She served as chair of the Brain Injury Research Committee of the California Pacific Regional Rehabilitation Center, and is a past president of the Northern California Neuropsychology Forum.

 

Cynthia Tusan, MBA

Cynthia Tusan is the Founder and CEO of Strategic Global Advisors (SGA), LLC, a woman and employee-owned registered investment advisor based in Newport Beach, California. SGA, which began in 2005, manages close to $5 billion in international, global and domestic equity strategies, primarily for institutional investors and has earned numerous awards over the years for excellence in asset management and performance, in 2012, 2016, and 2018. Ms.Tusan’s investment career spans more than 30 years, including 16 years with Wells Fargo where she began in 1989 as a Senior Portfolio Manager. She is a CFA charter holder and is a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles and the CFA Society of Orange County. Ms. Tusan is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the Anderson School at UCLA. She currently serves on the Career Services Advisory Council at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she leads their $30 million capital campaign to build their Career Services, Diversity and Interfaith Center.

 

Dr. Anna Arabyan

Dr. Anna Arabyan, Adjunct Professor at the USC School of Gerontology was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She went to college at the University of Southern California (USC) where she studied gerontology. She went on to receive her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from USC. Dr. Arabyan has a particular interest in Women’s hormonal health and palliative care. She now serves as a faculty member at USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology where she teaches courses on health, aging and pain management.

 

Michael Manoog Kaprielian

After his military service Kaprielian earned several academic degrees in social science and women studies. Having worked in the not for profit, corporate and government sectors, Manoog has made numerous humanitarian trips to Armenia; attending to disasters and subsequent training programs including emergency medicine and taught at Yerevan’s Women’s Resource Center while living there for most of five years. Invited by the Armenia’s First Lady, he delivered academic talk at the first international conference for women and then called upon by the USAID and Save the Children to lead recovery of women brutalized in the war in Abkhazia on the Black Sea. Among the many honors of note Kaprielian was presented the national humanitarian service award from the President of Armenia and inducted into the Georgian National Academy of Psychology.

 

Sona Hovsepian, LCSW

Sona Hovsepian is a Senior Clinical Project Director with the Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC) at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System. Currently, her research efforts focus on promoting the health and social welfare of Veterans and the nation before, during, and after national emergencies and disasters through research and evaluation. She serves on the safety committee at the GLA Community Engagement and Reintegration Services (CERS) department. Ms. Hovsepian’s role as a family therapist at the Glendale Adventist Alcohol and Drug Services includes working with individuals and families faced with the challenges of addiction in residential, day, and intensive outpatient program. She has held leadership roles in several non-profit community organizations. Ms. Hovsepian received her undergraduate degree at UCLA and her MSW.

Dr. Harold Takooshian, Advisor

Harold Takooshian, PhD, is on the faculty of Fordham University since 1975, where he is Professor of Psychology, Urban Studies, and Organizational Leadership.  He completed his PhD in Psychology in 1979 at CUNY with Stanley Milgram. He is a researcher, teacher, consultant, whose work is described in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World. He has taught at 12 universities in 6 nations. As a co-founder and past-President of the APA Division of International Psychology, he served with the United Nations, and chaired its NGO Habitat Committee on Human Settlements (2008-2010). A second-generation New Yorker, Harold serves as an officer and past-President of the Manhattan Psychological Association.

 

Dr. Dana Walrath, Ph.D., MFA, Advisor

A writer, artist, and anthropologist, Dana Walrath likes to cross borders and disciplines with her work. After years of using stories to teach medical students at University of Vermont’s College of Medicine, she turned to writing her own. Her award winning verse novel, Like Water on Stone, was completed during the year she spent as a Fulbright Scholar in Armenia. Her graphic memoir series Aliceheimer’s has brought her throughout North America and Eurasia to speak about the role of comics in healing including talks at TEDx Battenkill and TEDx Yerevan. Her recent essays have appeared in Slate, Foreign Policy, Irish Times, Somatosphere, The Lancet, on Public Radio, and in numerous edited volumes including Menopause: A Comic Treatment — a New York Times Best of 2020 Graphic Novel.

 

Nancy Barsamian, MPH, BSN, RN

Nancy Barsamian is a candidate for her Doctor of Nursing practice this coming May 2023. She has practiced acute care nursing for over 10 years and public health nursing and education for over 20 years. Nancy worked on a public health surveillance system with the Centers for Disease Control and Armenia National Institute of Health beginning in 1993 and on the Boston University Medical Partnership Program training doctors and nurses post-earthquake. She has lectured at Boston University School of Business, Boston College School of Nursing and currently a teaching associate at the University of Massachusetts graduate school of nursing.

 

Dr. Armen Moughamian

Dr. Moughamian joined the Ray Dolby Brain Health Center at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco in January 2020 and currently serves as its medical director. In this role,
Dr. Moughamian leads a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, neuropsychologists and social workers to evaluate and treat patients with cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. The team at the Dolby Center has pioneered a novel dyad care model which integrates a social worker into the treatment of the patient, providing support for the families and care-partners of the patient.

 

Dr Herag Hamboyan

Dr. Herag Hamboyan is the medical director of 20 senior homes in the greater Toronto area in Canada. For the past 15 years, his main focus has been caring for medically complex elderly patients, many of whom suffer from dementia. He is also passionate about providing end of life care for those who have been deemed palliative. He is a proud Armenian-Canadian who speaks Armenian (western dialect) in addition to English and French. In 2019, he fulfilled a dream by climbing to the summit of Mount Ararat.

 

Carmen Arom, MBA

Carmen is a Broker Associate at Dilbeck Real Estate specializing in sales and acquisition of Residential, Commercial and Investment properties in the Greater Los Angeles areas. Currently, Carmen is the President of the Glendale Association of Realtors (GAOR) with over 1,800 members. She is also a Director at California Association of Realtors (CAR), and a member of National Association of Relators (NAR). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from San Francisco State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She has always been an active member of the PTA at La Canada Unified School District and a supporter of La Canada Educational foundation.