People
María P. Aranda, PhD, MSW, MPA, LCSW
Senior Scholar, USC Schaeffer Institute
Distinguished Professor of Social Work and Margaret W. Driscoll/Louise M. Clevenger Professor in Social Policy and Administration, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Executive Director, USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging
Biography
María P. Aranda, PhD, MSW, MPA, LCSW is Distinguished Professor of Social Work at USC, and holds the Margaret W. Driscoll/Louise M. Clevenger Professorship in Social Policy and Administration. The Executive Director of the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging. Dr. Aranda is a pioneer in community-based programs, dementia care, and caregiver interventions. She is recognized among the top 2% of social work scientists in the world in a study by Elsevier and Stanford University, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Dr. Aranda is a co-investigator of the USC ADRD Research Center on Minority Aging Research, and advisory board member of the USC United States Cost of Dementia Model project, both at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.
Dr. Aranda’s research has earned support from the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the California Department of Public Health Alzheimer’s Program, among others. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. She has also served on several consensus committees of the National Academies, as well as the 2025 National Alliance for Caregiving/AARP ’s Caregiving in the United States expert advisory panel. Dr. Aranda is a licensed bilingual psychotherapist, and mentor to many early-career scientists in the US and beyond.