Research Project Coordinator
Community Health and Aging Outcomes Lab
Maria J. Lopez (M.A., M.S., Seton Hall University) is a Research Project Coordinator for the Community Health and Aging Outcomes (CHAO) Lab. She supports multiple NIH-funded projects focused on improving quality of care and health outcomes among older adults living with chronic illness including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Prior to joining the CHAO Lab, Maria worked for Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare as part of the original start up team for the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ Interim Managing Entity Addictions Access Center, managing state and Medicaid funded addiction services for all New Jersey residents. Originally trained as a clinical therapist, Maria’s passion for research led her to pursue a second master’s in Experimental Science. Her research experience includes conducting mindfulness-based stress reduction workshops, historical and cultural interviews of late adult and geriatric populations, the use of journaling to increase medication adherence in adult and geriatric patients, and animal studies involving ethanol use and stress.