Ms. Carla Álvarez MellsNational Institutes of Health (NIH)

Carla Álvarez Mells has worked in the Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of the Director for the past 10 years. Prior to this, she worked as a Communications Assistant to the NIH Deputy Associate Director for Communications and Public Liaison. There, she broadened her experience by serving on peer review groups for plain language and represented the agency at Latino health fairs. In 2008, Carla joined the News Media Branch team as a Public Affairs Assistant and had responsibility for responding to public inquiries and media requests. She served on a committee that coordinated and supervised the agency’s Language Access activities and related endeavors undertaken to comply with the provisions of the Language Access Act including, but not limited to, creating and implementing an agency biennial language access plan. In her current role as Public Affairs Outreach Specialist, she oversees outreach activities designed to promote awareness of and public engagement in the NIH’s programs. Carla is part of a team that developed the NIH Spanish Health Information Portal. She serves as a health information navigator through the monthly column, “Pregunta a Carla,” a feature on the portal. She currently serves on the Trans-NIH Clinical Trials and You Working Group and is part of the NIH Language Access Steering Committee.

Her academic preparation includes a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.