University of Southern California, Edward R. Roybal Institute on AgingDr. Aranda is an internationally recognized social worker and sociobehavioral scholar in the fields of social work, geriatrics/gerontology, diversity and underrepresented groups, and health disparities. She is Professor of Social Work with a courtesy appointment in Gerontology at the University of Southern California, and holds the Margaret W. Driscoll/Louise M. Clevenger Professorship in Social Policy and Administration. She specializes in the area of medical and psychiatric comorbidity in adult and older adult populations specifically in the areas of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, psychosocial interventions for individuals and family care partners, health disparities and ADRD. Dr. Aranda is the Executive Director of the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging. She has extensive experience in randomized trials, ethnographic methods, large-scale epidemiological research, stakeholder engagement, and innovative recruitment and retention protocols with underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the US and international populations. She has served as PI/Co-PI on several key studies/projects funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Mental Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Southern California-CTSI, The John A. Hartford Foundation/The Gerontological Society of America, National Institute of Rehabilitation and Research, the Alzheimer’s Association/Health Resources and Services Administration, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, the Partners in Care Foundation, the California Community Foundation, and the State of California Department of Public Health AD Programs. Dr. Aranda served on the Steering Committee of the NIA 2020 National Research Summit on Care, Services, and Supports for Persons with Dementia and their Caregivers, and received the 2022 James Jackson Mentoring Award in Minority Aging. She currently serves on the NIH Director’s NExTRAC Working Group on Engaging the Public as Partners in Clinical Research.