Carolyn Mendez-Luck, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Carolyn A. Mendez-Luck is an associate professor of health management and
policy at Oregon State University’s College of Public Health and Human
Sciences. She was formerly an adjunct assistant professor of community
health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Fielding
School of Public Health, and is currently a faculty research associate with the
UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Mendez-Luck’s research addresses aging-related health
disparities and long-term care in Latinx and other vulnerable adult populations. Her research is
community based, interdisciplinary, and rooted in principles of health equity. As the recipient of a
K01 career development award from the National Institute on Aging, she developed and tested a
diabetes intervention for Latinx elders and their primary caregivers. She examines the social and
cultural factors associated with elder caregiving and chronic disease management in families of
Mexican origin and leads an ongoing analysis of nursing facilities in Oregon.
Mendez-Luck is actively involved in state and county long-term care policy in Oregon. She serves
on the Quality Measurement Council, which advises the Oregon Department of Human Services on
developing and tracking quality and consumer satisfaction metrics in community-based care
settings. She was also chair of the Senior Services Advisory Council for the Cascades West Council
of Governments, a tri-county Area Agency on Aging. At the national level, she has served on the
American Public Health Association (APHA) Governing Council and is currently chair of APHA’s
Aging and Public Health Section.
Mendez-Luck received her BS in biology from the University of Southern California and her MPH
and PhD in public health from UCLA. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Veterans
Affairs Health Services Research and Development Center for the Study of Healthcare Provider
Behavior in Sepulveda, California.