Dr. Karen Bullock is professor and head of the School of Social Work at North Carolina State University. She has more than 25 years of clinical practice experience in mental health and aging, with expertise in healthcare disparities. Her research focuses on cancer care, social support for older adults with serious illness, and health equity.

Dr. Bullock is a John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar and serves on several national boards and committees, including the Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network (SWHPN) as vice-chair and the immediate past chair of the American Cancer Society (ACS) Oncology Social Work Research Peer Review Committee. She is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Roundtable Committee on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness.

Dr. Bullock won the 2012 Best Article Award from the Routledge Journal of Social Work in end-of-life and palliative care, and she has been featured in the Washington Post, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times as an expert in these areas.