Susan Meffert, MD, MPH
Professor
Psychiatry
School of Medicine

Susan M. Meffert M.D., M.P.H. is a Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and UCSF Global Health Sciences Faculty Affiliate.

Show full bio (190 words) Hide full bio

Dr. Meffert and her team are international leaders in the field of mental health implementation science with particular expertise for designing integrated, evidence-based mental health services for diverse medical populations. Dr. Meffert has been invited to present her team's work at the World Health Organization (WHO, an agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health), the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH, the largest funder of research on mental disorders), the World Bank and United States Agency for International Development (USAID, one of the largest aid agencies in the world).

In Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), Dr. Meffert and her team created the Global Partnership to Enhance Mental Health Care (GEM), a UCSF program in East Africa that researches strategies to deliver evidence-based mental health care with locally available workers. Through GEM, Dr. Meffert has received over $10 million in research funding from the United States Institutes of Health (NIH) and other entities, published more than 30 articles, given numerous International and Grand Round presentations and received honors and other recognition for her team’s advancement of the field.

Awards

Show all (18) Hide

  • Departmental Grand Rounds, New York University Langone Department of Psychiatry, 2023
  • USAID International Mental Health Program: Invited Research Presentation, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), 2023
  • Accelerating Evidence to Use in Mental Health Policy and Programming, USAID-HEARD, 2022
  • Keynote Speaker, International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT) Conference, 2021
  • HIV and Mental Health in Africa-Collaborative Scale-Up (Lead), AIDS2020 Virtual Workshop and NIMH, 2020
  • Global Mental Health- Achieving Public Health Impact, Promise of Implementation Science (moderator), NIMH, 2017
  • Global Mental Health Plenary (moderator), Consortium of Universities for Global Health, 2016
  • Optimizing Mental Health Service Delivery: The Science of Implementation (panelist), NIMH, 2016
  • Mental health implementation strategy in Kenya selected for innovation fair (~20, globally), World Health Organization, World Bank, 2016
  • LAMP: Law, Advocacy and Mental Health Project, UCSF RAP, 2015-2016
  • K23, NIMH, 2014-2018
  • K23 supplement, NIMH, 2014-2018
  • Hellman Award for UC Investigators, UCSF, 2013-2014
  • Women's Health and Empowerment Grant: Assessing Mental Health Care Needs among HIV+ women in Kenya, UCSF/UCLA, 2012-2013
  • KL2 BIRCWH Award, UCSF, 2011-2014
  • UCSF Global Health Sciences Burke Faculty Scholar, UCSF Global Health Sciences, 2009-2013
  • RCT of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Sichuan Earthquake Survivors, UCSF-RAP, 2009-2012
  • RCT of Interpersonal Therapy for Sudanese Refugees in Cairo, UCSF-RAP, 2008-2009

Education & Training

Show all (9) Hide

  • Implementation Science Training Institute on Dissemination & Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) National Institutes of Health 2015
  • Fellowship: Forensic Psychiatry Psychiatry University of California, San Francisco 2009
  • Fellowship: Global Mental Health Research Psychiatry University of California, San Francisco 2008
  • Residency Psychiatry University of California, San Francisco 2007
  • MPH: International Health School of Public Health: International Health Harvard University 2003
  • Medical Degree College of Medicine University of Iowa 2003
  • BS Biology Stanford University 1997
  • BA Religious Studies Stanford University 1997
  • MA Religious Studies Stanford University 1997

Interests

Show all (13) Hide

  • Brief implementation science training courses
  • Implementation Science
  • Depression
  • Interdisciplinary research collaboration
  • International (medical)
  • Implementation & dissemination science listservs
  • Interpersonal violence
  • Works-in-progress seminars
  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
  • Community-based organization
  • mass trauma: political violence and disaster settings
  • Migrants/refugees
  • Persons with mental illness

Websites

Show all (2) Hide

Videos

Show all (3) Hide

Grants and Projects

Show all (4) Hide

Publications (29)

Top publication keywords:
Antidepressive Agents, Second-GenerationGender-Based ViolenceKenyaRefugeesDomestic ViolenceStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticSpousesComplementary TherapiesPsychotherapyPoliceDepressive Disorder, MajorHIV SeropositivityMental Health ServicesInterpersonal RelationsFluoxetine

Show all (24 more) Hide