Gresham Smith’s Lesa Lorusso Elected to EDRA Board of Directors
Gresham Smith is excited to announce that our Healthcare Director of Research and Innovation Lesa N. Lorusso, Ph.D., MBA, MSArch, Allied AIA, ASID, RID, NCIDQ, has been elected to serve a three-year term on The Environmental Design Research Association’s (EDRA) Board of Directors. She will also serve as Chair of the Members and Partnerships committee, which oversees overall policies for and recruitment of EDRA members, and helps establish partnerships with other organizations.
“Becoming an EDRA Board Member is not only an achievement but also a great service opportunity with an organization that has fostered powerful multidisciplinary, evidence-based design (EBD) research collaborations for over 50 years,” said Jim Langlois, Executive Vice President, Healthcare, Gresham Smith. “Through working with the EDRA Board and membership, Lesa will help expand Gresham Smith’s EBD research resources and connections, which will ultimately advance the quality of our work.”
“I am honored to have been elected to EDRA’s Board of Directors,” commented Lorusso. “EDRA is unique in that it brings people together from both academia and professional practice who are involved in evidence-based design. By connecting professionals in environmental research and design, the organization allows us all to sharpen our research methods and improve our practice.”
Lorusso has been a member of EDRA as both a student and as professional prior to her election to the board. Most recently, she was part of the team that achieved EDRA CORE certification for their practice-based research in the study report “Investigating the Impact of Multi-sensory Environments on Behavior for People with Dementia.” Produced in collaboration with The University of Florida and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the research examines VA care staff’s perceptions of multisensory environments (MSE) and MSE impact on behavior for Veterans with dementia to improve quality of care.
Founded in 1969, EDRA’s lineage of members have pioneered environment and behavior studies, evidence-based design, facility evaluation methods, sustainability, active living community planning, universal design, diversity in design, workplace design and informatics, as well as digital technologies.