Linda A Gerdner formerly served as an ethnogeriatric specialist at Stanford Geriatric Education Center. Her career is driven by a deep passion to advance care of persons with dementia (PWD). Her most outstanding contributions are in two areas: 1) management of agitation in PWD, 2) promoting awareness and understanding of dementia in the Hmong American community and culturally responsive care by health professionals. She pioneered the development and testing of a protocol for individualized music in persons with dementia. She advanced this work by developing and testing the mid-range theory of individualized music intervention for agitation. This seminal study became the impetus for further research in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Norway, Japan and Taiwan. She expanded the empirical and clinical evidence with publication of an evidence-based guideline for individualized music in 1997, currently in its 6th edition. She is the author of a realistic picture book entitled "Musical Memories", for children and their parents to empower them in the basic principles of using individualized music. He conducted the first ethnographic study to explore perception and care of dementia in Hmong elders. Findings provide a foundation for culturally responsive care for this population. She advanced this work with a series of online training modules through Stanford Geriatric Education Center. Her research identified a critical need for culturally responsive teaching materials to promote awareness and understanding of dementia by Hmong Americans. She is the primary author of Grandfather’s Story Cloth, a bilingual children’s picture book. Themes from family caregiver experiences provided a culturally meaningful storyline. This book has received six national and international awards. Gerdner has authored two additional scholarly books and is a co-editor of “Ethnicity and the Dementias (3rd Edition)”.