Lois K. Evans, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the van Ameringen Professor in Nursing Excellence at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (USA). A faculty member at Penn since 1984, Dr. Evans received her BSN from West Virginia University and her MSN and PhD degrees from The Catholic University of America. Emphasizing mental health, Dr. Evans is one of the foremost researchers in care of the elderly. Along with her colleague Dr. Neville Strumpf, Dr. Evans developed path-breaking research lessening the use of restraints with frail elders in the nation's nursing homes and hospitals. Dr. Evans has received federal and foundation grants to support her work, and has provided leadership for innovative community based practices that integrate physical and mental health services for older adults. In 2005 she co-led a national conference and strategic planning meeting in Philadelphia to assure the direction and future of the geropsychiatric nursing field. Based on this work, and with John A. Hartford Foundation funding, she is co-directing the Geropsychiatric Nursing Collaborative at the American Academy of Nursing to design competencies and curricula to enhance the ability of nurses to provide mental health services for older adults.