Sarah Lenz Lock, J.D.

Sarah Lenz Lock, J.D.

Profile

Sarah Lenz Lock is Senior Vice President for Policy and Brain Health in AARP’s Policy, Research and International Affairs (PRI).  Ms. Lock leads AARP’s policy initiatives on brain health and care for people living with dementia, including serving as the Executive Director of the Global Council on Brain Health, an independent collaborative of scientists, doctors, and policy experts.  Ms. Lock coordinates AARP’s role in the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations. 

Ms. Lock is a frequent writer and public speaker on issues related to healthy aging.  She has been quoted or appeared in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, NPR, Good Morning, America, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, the Baltimore Sun, and the Chicago Tribune.

 Sarah serves on numerous boards and is a member of the American Society on Aging, the Gerontological Society of America, the Dementia Friendly America National Council, the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the National Institute on Aging’s IMPACT Collaboratory, and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Sarah represents AARP on the Milken Alliance to Improve Dementia Care and serves as a Health and Aging Policy Fellow Program National Advisory Board Member.   She formerly served as a Commissioner for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Law and Aging and on the HHS Administration on Community Living Aging and Cognitive Health Technical Expert Advisory Board.

From 2007 to June 2018 she directed the Office of Policy Development and Integration, where she led the office responsible for the development of AARP’s public policies.  Previously, Ms. Lock was Senior Attorney/Manager at AARP Foundation Litigation conducting health care impact litigation on behalf of older persons.  She has authored numerous amicus briefs in appellate courts all over the country on health care issues impacting older Americans. 

Prior to joining AARP, Sarah served as a Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. Sarah began her career as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives to Congressman Michael D. Barnes working with the Federal Government Service Task Force, and worked at the law firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn. 

Ms. Lock received a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College, and a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law where she was a member of the law review. 

Select Publications

Lock, S.L., Chura, L.R., Dilworth-Anderson, P. et al. Equity across the life course matters for brain health. Nat Aging 3, 466–468 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-023-00413-1

Lock, S.L. The benefits of brain health to our economies. Nat Aging 3, 1–2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00302-z

Lock, S. and J. Peterson. (2020). “It's Time to Act: The Challenges of Alzheimer's and Dementia for Women.” AARP. https://doi.org/10.26419/pia.00102.001  

S. Lock, “The G8 Commitment: Dementia Treatment by 2025,” AARP International, The Journal (2014): 40–42.

Recent Media Mentions

• 'Cognitive decline is not inevitable:' Brain health needs to be addressed by individuals, communities and policy makers. MarketWatch.  27 June 2023.
• Keeping Your Aging Brain Happy and Healthy. PBS. 18 November 2021.
• Gender Inequality in Dementia. Psychology Today. 26 August 2020.
• In The Hospital With Dementia: These Patients Need Their Caregivers. Forbes. 28 April 2020.
• Lifestyle strategies to keep brains healthy, which also might push back the onset of dementia. The Washington Post. 17 February 2020.
• Number of Americans With Dementia Will Double by 2040: Report. U.S. News & World Report. 30 October 2019.

Contact: slock@aarp.org

Follow: @SarahLenzLock