Plenary Presentation Speakers' Bios
Megan Alderden, PhD Dr.Megan Alderden is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Criminology at DePaul University. Her areas of expertise include victimology, policing, and program evaluation. Prior to joining DePaul, Dr. Alderden was the Research Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority where she oversaw various research projects on policing, victim services, and violence prevention. Dr. Alderden served as a researcher with the National Police Research Platform; her area of examination included police culture, diversification, and civilization of police agencies and she has published research focusing on police investigation practices and outcomes specific to sexual assaults and homicides, including those that examine the impact of forensic evidence on case decision making. Dr. Alderden is currently working alongside researchers with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University Chicago on a federally funded project that aims to assist communities in Illinois in implementing targeted violence prevention initiatives.
Mark Concordia, CTMBefore joining Advocate Health, Mark served as an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, where he both taught courses in criminal investigations and intelligence studies and founded/led the Justice & Security Institute. Mark’s foundational grounding stems from roles as a U.S. Customs Service Special Agent; as a community police department detective; as an integrity compliance investigator, and as a long-time member of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Before joining Advocate Health Mark served as the Director of Training & Threat Assessment Investigations for At-Risk International, a private sector entity which aspires to create and maintain safe environments by providing threat analysis, protective services, consulting, investigations, intelligence, and security training services on a global scale. Mark is regarded as a subject matter expert in the discipline of threat assessment and threat management and his charge at Advocate Health is to collaborate with multiple functional teams, security leaders and teams, community partners, and site-based workplace violence prevention committees to build the most capable and effective workplace violence prevention program in healthcare.
James Marley, PhDJames Marley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work. Prior to coming to Loyola, Dr. Marley was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has over 30 years of experience working with people with severe mental illness and their families. Dr. Marley is on the editorial board of Clinical Social Work Journal and was the past Monitor for the National Association of Social Workers-Illinois Chapter Committee on Ethics. Dr. Marley presents regularly at state, national and international conferences on topics related to ethics, mental illness, and psychiatric rehabilitation. He frequently serves as an expert witness for
Gabriela Peña, MPHGabriela Peña is a Research Specialist in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago. In her role, she helps conduct mixed methods research and project implementation in targeted violence prevention, especially related to the implementation of behavioral threat assessment and management teams. She is also working on her final steps of preparation to become a Master Trainer in threat assessment and management and serves as the Communications Chair for the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals Great Lakes Chapter. She received both her bachelors and Master of Public Health from the UIC School of Public Health. In her previous roles, Gabriela provided community engagement expertise for researchers at UIC and co-led UIC-Partnerships for Antiracist Campus Transformation within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Engagement. On her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, strength training, and spending time with family and friends. |
