STIMHR Speaker Series

In collaboration with UTSA's Cajal Neuroscience Institute, the Latino Health Research Initiative, and Women’s Studies Institute, the STIMHR Mental Health Speaker Series serves as a research colloquium that brings distinguished speakers of particular interest to investigators and students alike from San Antonio and South Texas. The speaker series program is not only highly informative, but also provides a forum for mental-health researchers to engage in networking opportunities and to form working relationships. The program stimulates and supports these collaborative opportunities among faculty and students interested in the mental-health research issues and, in turn, is strengthened by them. Upcoming STIMHR Speaker Series symposiums will be announced on the UTSA Today Calendar of Events.

   Previous Speakers

Steven R. Lopez, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry and Chicana/o Studies, University of California at Los Angeles

PowerPoint Presentation - Improving Mental Health Care for Mexican Americans with Serious Mental Illness - Adobe PDF - PowerPoint <- currently being updated.

"Conceptions of Culture, Family Factors and Course of Schizophrenia"

Nationally renowned mental-health researcher Dr. Steven Lopez spoke on minority mental illness during two talks on May 19, 2006 in San Antonio, the first in a series of symposiums underwritten by STIMHR.

Lopez first gave a community talk on schizophrenia among Hispanics and a subsequent academic talk entitled "Conceptions of Culture, Family Factors and Course of Schizophrenia" at the UTSA main campus to raise awareness and understanding of the roles of socio-cultural and family factors in schizophrenia.

Lopez was awarded the U.S. surgeon general's exemplary service award for his contributions to "Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity," a supplement to the surgeon general's report on mental health in the United States.

Published extensively, Lopez' research focuses on the interplay among socio-cultural factors, ethnicity and language as they contribute to serious mental disorders including schizophrenia and depression. In addition to exploring cultural perspectives in psychological assessment and clinical practice, he has helped advance knowledge regarding cultural competence and the quality of mental health care for Hispanics with mental disorders.

His research on cultural considerations in psychopathology, assessment and treatment interventions has appeared in such journals as Schizophrenia Research, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Psychiatric Services and Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

Lopez' books include "Handbook of Chicana/o Psychology," "Psychopathology: Foundations for Contemporary Understanding" and "Family Interventions in Mental Illness: International Perspectives."

See the archived UTSA Today article>>