Sarah Lenz Lock, J.D.

Sarah Lenz Lock, J.D.

Profile

Sarah Lenz Lock is Senior Vice President for Policy in AARP’s Policy, Research and International Affairs (PRI) where she helps position AARP as a thought leader addressing the major issues facing older Americans. She 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 convened by AARP to provide trusted information on brain health.

She coordinates AARP’s role in the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, and helps to ensure policy alignment within AARP. From 2007 to 2013 she served as Vice President, Office of Policy Integration of AARP, where she directed the office responsible for the development of AARP’s public policies.  Previously, she was Senior Attorney/Manager at AARP Foundation Litigation, conducting impact litigation on behalf of older persons, working on health care issues related to Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, long-term care and prescription drugs.  She has authored numerous amicus briefs in appellate courts all over the country on health care issues impacting older Americans. 

She is a member of the American Society on Aging, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and the Gerontological Society of America. She serves on the Steering Committee for the National Research Summit on Care, Services and Supports for Persons with Dementia and their Caregivers, on the HHS’ Administration on Community Living Aging and Cognitive Health Technical Expert Advisory Board, the Dementia Friendly America National Council, and is 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.

Prior to joining AARP, she served as a Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, handling complex litigation against federal agencies such as NIH, FDA, the Air Force and Army, and EPA. She provided legal advice and assisted in policy development for numerous federal agencies on issues that included information technology, transportation, security and terrorism, and tort reform. She also taught at the Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute for Civil Trial Advocacy.

She 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.

She 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. 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

• 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