Doctor of Philosophy in Mental Health - Social Determinants of Mental and Behavioral Health

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.
Social Determinants of Mental & Behavioral Health Area emphasizes the role of multilevel social and structural factors in shaping mental and behavioral health, such as stigma, social networks, structural racism and policies on housing, drug control, and criminal justice domestically and internationally. This area of concentration also aims to identify determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in mental and behavioral health, inform the development of community, institutional and macro-level interventions to ameliorate disparities in mental and behavioral health, and demonstrates a commitment to community engagement, service and practice, with several students and faculty working in concert with community organizations, agencies and policymakers on efforts to promote equity in mental and behavioral health.