Thania Galván, Ph.D (she, ella)
Dr. Galvan is an assistant professor in the clinical psychology program at the University of Georgia and the director of the FUERTE lab. She received her doctorate from the clinical psychology program at the University of Denver, did her pre-doctoral internship in the child track at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed an NIMH T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina. Broadly, her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms that contribute to, maintain and/or exacerbate mental health disparities among Latinx youth and families. Within this, she is interested in (a) identifying and supporting Latinx families most at risk for experiencing the negative mental health sequela of health disparities, (b) using an ecological systems framework to identify and target the mechanisms underlying these disparities, and (c) improving the translation of Latinx mental health disparities research into practice and policy. Within these interests, Thania also specialized expertise in traumatic stress and in undocumented/mixed-status immigrant families. Her work has been recognized by several organizations including NIMH, Steve Fund, Ford Foundation, and the University of Denver. It has also resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national conferences. Clinically, she is interested in the provision of culturally and contextually sensitive mental health services (broadly defined) that are accessible to traditionally underserved youth and their families.