She studies senior housing and community-based services, including state efforts to support affordable assisted living facilities, the use of negotiated risk agreements, and medication policies and practices in assisted living. She has authored several journal articles and book chapters on assisted living practices and programs. Dr. Carder is currently on the medication management workgroup for the CEAL-UNC Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership and the planning committee for the Assisted Living Disclosure Collaborative coordinated by CEAL and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. She teaches courses in long-term care policy and qualitative research methods.