ENGAGING COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS TO REDUCE MENTAL HEALTH INEQUITIES IN THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY

Leopoldo J. Cabassa, Ph.D., M.S.W.
Professor, Director, PhD Program in Social Work
Brown School at Washington University

Dr. Leopoldo J. Cabassa is a Puerto Rican social worker. He is a Professor, Director of the Social Work PhD Program, and Co-Director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a faculty affiliate at the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Equity and he is a faculty scholar at the Institute for Public Health.

Dr. Cabassa’s research centers on examining physical and mental health inequities in historically marginalized racial and ethnic populations with serious mental illness (; e.g., schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder). His work blends quantitative and qualitative methods, health disparities research, community engagement, intervention research, and implementation science. His research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the New York State Office of Mental Health, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Cabassa is a fellow of the Society for Social Work and Research and the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare. He is currently a member of the NIH Center for Scientific Review Advisory Council. His scholarship is making significant contributions in three areas: improving depression literacy and reducing stigma toward mental illness in Latin American communities in the United States; 2) reducing physical health disparities in racial/ethnic minorities with SMI; and 3) improving the health and well-being of young adults experiencing first-episode psychosis.

His Postdoctoral Fellowship was completed at the University of Southern California, School of Social Work. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Social Work at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, and bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

Lauren Hill, Ph.D.
Deputy Director
Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity, NIMH

Dr. Lauren Hill is the Deputy Director of the Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity (ODWD) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). ODWD advances NIMH efforts to promote equity in research, to address the mental health needs of individuals and communities negatively impacted by health disparities, and to promote diversity and inclusion for those underrepresented in the research workforce. Prior to joining ODWD, she was the Director of Research Training and Career Development in the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research, managing a large and diverse program of training grants and initiatives. Before coming to NIMH, Dr. Hill had faculty appointments in the Departments of Medical and Clinical Psychology (MPS) and Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine (USU) and was Director of the Education Core of the NIH-funded USU Center for Health Disparities Research and Education. Dr. Hill earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology-Psychology from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at American University in Washington, DC. She completed a psychology internship in adult behavioral medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and post-doctoral training at USU in community-partnered health disparities research.