Doctor of Philosophy in Mental Health - Mental Health and COVID-19

The PhD degree is a research-oriented doctoral degree. In the first two years, students take core courses in the Departments of Mental Health, Biostatistics, and Epidemiology, in research ethics, and attend weekly department seminars. Students must complete a written comprehensive exam (in January of their second year), a preliminary exam, two presentations and a final dissertation including presentation and defense. Throughout their time in the department, we encourage all doctoral students to participate in at least one research group of the major research programs in the department: Substance Use Epidemiology, Global Mental Health, Mental Health and Aging, Mental Health Services and Policy, Methods, Prevention Research, Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetic Epidemiology, Psychiatric Epidemiology, and Autism and Developmental Disabilities.The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on public health around the globe in terms of both physical and mental health, and the mental health implications of the pandemic may continue long after the physical health consequences have resolved. This research area aims to contribute to our understanding of the COVID-19 pandemics implications for mental health, building on a robust literature on how environmental crises, such as SARS or natural disasters, can lead to mental health challenges, including loneliness, acute stress, anxiety, and depression. The social distancing aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic may have particularly significant effects on mental health. Understanding how mental health evolves as a result of this serious global pandemic will inform prevention and treatment strategies moving forward, including allocation of resources to those most in need. Critically, these data can also serve as evidence-based information for public health organizations and the public as a whole.