Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at the UC Davis Health System and the Director of the Community Engagement Program of the UCD Clinical Translational Science Center (CTSC). In 2007, he completed a four-year term as a member of the National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He is co-chair of the NIH’s Community Engagement Key Function Committee for the NIH-funded Clinical Translational Science Awards (CTSAs), Past Chair of the Board of Directors of Mental Health America (MHA; formerly the National Mental Health Association), a board member of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research, a Steering Committee and Research Scientist member of the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSNDA), a member of the Scientific Adviosry Committee of Autism Speaks, and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Carlos Slim Health Institute, and a member of the California Medical Board’s Cultural and Linguistic Competency Program Workgroup. He has held several World Health Organization (WHO) advisory board and consulting positions and is currently the Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health Surveys Consortium.
Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola’s research includes cross-national comparative epidemiologic research on patterns and correlates of mental disorders and substance abuse in general population samples. His applied research program has focused on identifying unmet mental health needs and associated risk and protective factors to better understand and meet population mental health needs and reduce mental health disparities in underserved populations. He is also very active translating mental health and substance abuse research results into practical information that is of public health value to consumers, service administrators, and policy makers. Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola is the author of over 100 scientific publications. He is the recipient of multiple awards including the Vanderbilt University Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Medal of Congress (“Medalla de la Cámara de Diputados”) of Chile for work related to mental health research, the Provost’s Excellence Award for Distinguished Achievement in Research at California State University, Fresno, the DHHS’ Office of Minority Health’s 2005 National Minority Health Community Leader Award (Hispanic Community), Washington, DC. Most recently he received the 2007 Excellence in Hispanic Mental Health Advocacy, Leadership, and Research Award from the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, the 2007 UC Davis Academic Senate Scholarly Distinguished Service Award, the 2008 Latino Mental Health Conference Excellence in Science and Research Award from NYU Univ., and the 2009 National Award of Excellence in Blending Research and Practice from the National Hispanic Science Network. Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola was a member of the IOM/NRC Committee on Depression, Parenting Practices, and the Health Development of Young Children (2007-2009) report and more recently a member of the recently published IOM/NRC Women’s Health Research: Progress, Pitfalls, and Promise (2010) report.
Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola received his M.D. degree at the School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Mexico and his Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology at Vanderbilt University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on health services research at UC, San Francisco.
Margarita Alegría, PhD, is the director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research (CMMHR) at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She is a professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and currently serves as the principal or co-principal investigator of three National Institutes of Health-funded research studies. Dr. Alegría’s published work focuses on the improvement of health care services delivery for diverse racial and ethnic populations, conceptual and methodological issues with multicultural populations, and ways to bring the community’s perspective into the design and implementation of health services. Dr. Alegría also conducts research that will contribute to an understanding of the factors influencing service disparities, and testing interventions aimed at reducing disparities for ethnic and racial minority groups. Her other work has highlighted the importance of contextual, social, and individual factors that intersect with nativity and are associated with the risk for behavioral health problems. In conducting this work, she has actively mentored numerous students and junior investigators. As a result of her contributions to her field, Dr. Alegría has received: the 2003 Mental Health Section Award of the American Public Health Association; the 2008 Carl Taube Award from the American Public Health Association, the Health Disparities Innovation Award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; the 2009 Simon Bolivar Award from the American Psychiatry Association; the 2011 Harold Amos Diversity Award from the Harvard Medical School Office of Diversity and Community Partnership; and the Award of Excellence in Mentorship from the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse. Additionally she has honored with the 2011 Excellence in Hispanic Mental Health Research, Advocacy and Leadership Award from the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health. In October of 2011, Dr. Alegria was elected to be a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Luis H. Zayas, Ph.D., Dean and Centennial Professor in Leadership for Community, Professional and Corporate Excellence
Luis H. Zayas was appointed as Dean of the School of Social Work in January 2012. Before joining UT Austin, Zayas was the inaugural Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor of Social Work and Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. During his nearly ten years at Washington University, Zayas held the post of Associate Dean for Faculty from 2005-2007 and founded the Center for Latino Family Research in 2007. At Washington University, he taught social work practice courses; mentored doctoral dissertations, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate research assistants; led outpatient management rounds and psychotherapy seminars for psychiatric residents; and conducted research in diagnostic processes, suicide attempts of young Latinas, and adapting interventions for Latino children, youth and families.
Born in Coamo, Puerto Rico, Zayas attended college and graduate school in New York City. In a social work career spanning 35 years, Zayas has cross-walked clinical practice, supervision, administration, and research. He entered the field as a social worker in New York City delivering services directly to clients in social service agencies, general and pediatric rehabilitation hospitals, and mental health and primary care clinics in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. Zayas directed a therapeutic nursery in the South Bronx where he also supervised clinical staff. While extending his focus to research, teaching, and administration, Zayas has remained an active practitioner throughout, more recently providing pro bono services to community agencies.
Presently, Zayas is focusing on the plight of citizen-children whose parents are being deported. Through funding by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, he is examining the effects of deportation on the psychosocial functioning of U.S.-born citizen-children of undocumented Mexican immigrants. As a practitioner, Zayas is involved also in evaluating citizen-children and testifying in immigration courts on behalf of citizen-children and their families. This practice has also led to his public advocacy for citizen-children. In addition, Zayas continues his research on adolescent Latinas who have the highest rates of suicide attempts of any U.S. adolescent group.
Zayas has held social work faculty appointments at Columbia University, Fordham University, and Washington University, and a family medicine faculty appointment at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation; National Institute of Mental Health; Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and other public and private sources. In 1993, he was honored by the American Family Therapy Academy with the “Economic and Cultural Diversity Award” for his work with AIDS orphans and their families. He received leadership awards from several professional associations and mentoring awards at Washington University. He has lectured to university audiences in Chile, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
Pedro Ruiz, M.D., Professor and Executive Vice Chair, Director of Clinical Programs, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, and President World Psychiatric Association
Dr. Ruiz is Professor and Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Born in Cuba, Dr. Ruiz completed his medical education at the University of Paris, France in 1964. Subsequently, he conducted his graduate training in psychiatry at the University of Miami Medical School & Affiliated Hospitals (1964-1968). After completion of his graduate training, Dr. Ruiz joined the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, where he rose from instructor to professor of psychiatry, and occupied a series of administrative positions such as Director of the Lincoln Hospital Community Mental Health Center (1969-1977), Assistant Dean (1977-1979), and Director of the Bronx Psychiatric Center and Vice-Chair of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (1979-1981). In 1981, he moved to Houston, Texas, and joined the Baylor College of Medicine as a tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of Psychiatry Service at the Harris County Hospital District/Ben Taub General Hospital, where he stayed until 1993. In 1993, Dr. Ruiz joined the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston as a Tenured Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs. He also was appointed as Medical Director of the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute. In 2007, Dr. Ruiz became Interim Chair of the Department as well as Interim Executive Director of the Harris County Psychiatric Center, an acute 250 bed state hospital. In 2009, he became Vice Chair for Education in this Department.
Dr. Ruiz is certified in general psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology and in Administrative Psychiatry by the American Psychiatric Association. He is a Fellow of The American College of Psychiatrists, The American Psychiatric Association, The American Orthopsychiatric Association, The American Group Psychotherapy Association, The American Association for Social Psychiatry, The World Psychiatric Association and The Benjamin Rush Society. He is also a member of The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and an Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association. Dr. Ruiz has also served as President of the Houston Psychiatric Society (1999-2000), the American College of Psychiatrists (2000-2001), the American Association for Social Psychiatry (2000-2002), the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (2001-2002), and the American Psychiatric Association (2006-2007). Currently, Dr. Ruiz is the President of the World Psychiatric Association (20011-2014).
Dr. Ruiz has served in Senior national leadership positions in the Federal government and in professional organizations. Among them, the Community Alcoholism Services Review Committee of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)(1976-1979), the Board of Directors of The American Orthopsychiatric Association (1978-1979), the Liaison Task Panel on Psychoactive Drug Use/Misuse of the President’s Commission on Mental Health (1978-1979), the Psychiatric Education Review Committee of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)(1980-1982), the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)(1982-1986), The Council on National Affairs of the American Psychiatric Association (1984-1989), a component he chaired from 1985 to 1988, The Psychiatric Test Committee of the National Board of Medical Examiners (ABME)(1985-1988), the Program Committee of the Institute on Psychiatric Services of the American Psychiatric Association (1989-1994), a component he chaired from 1993 to 1994, the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) of the Department of Health and Human Services (1990-1993), the Board of Directors of The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (1990-1992), the Board of Regents of The American College of Psychiatrists (1992-1995), the Board of Directors of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. (1995-2002), the Council of International Affairs of the American Psychiatric Association (1994-1998), a component he Chaired from 1994 to 1998, the Scientific Program Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (1998-2000), a component he Chaired from 1998 to 2000, the WPA Standing Committee on Education (1996-1999), the WPA Standing Committee on Meetings (1999-2002), the Council on Addiction Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association (2000-2002), where he was Vice Chair from 2000 to 2002, Secretary of the American Psychiatric Association (2001-2003), Chair of the Ethics Appeal Board of the American Psychiatric Association (2001-2003), and Vice President of the American Psychiatric Association (2003-2005), Chair of the Joint Reference Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Committee on Advocacy and Litigation Funding of the American Psychiatric Association (2004-2005), Council on Global Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2009), Finance and Budget Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Financial Oversight Committee Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Executive and Officer Compensation Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), Long Term Financial Planning Committee of the American Psychiatric Association (2005-2006), APIRE Board of Directors (2005-2006), APPI Board of Directors (2005-2010), Alternate Delegate APA/AMA Delegation (2005-2006), Board of Directors of the American Psychiatric Foundation (2005-2006), and the Committee on Long-Range Planning and Policy of the American College of Psychiatrists (2009-2012).
Dr. Ruiz has also served in several editorial boards such as the Journal of Psychiatric Treatment and Evaluation (1979-1983), Hospital and Community Psychiatry (1981-1987), “Medico Interamericano” (1981-2001), “PRITE” (1990-1993), the American Journal on Addictions (1990-2001), the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse (1991-2007), the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1994-2004), the Journal of Cultural Diversity and Mental Health (1995-1998), “Psicopatologia” (1995-present), Medical Update for Psychiatrists (1996-present), Treatment (1997-1998), the American Journal of Psychiatry (1998-2002), the Journal of Practical Psychiatry and Behavioral Health (1998-2000), “Revista Argentina de Clinica Neuropsiquiatrica” (1998-present), Arab Journal of Psychiatry (1998-present), the American Psychiatric Press, Inc (1998-2000), Neurociencias y Humanidades (Argentina)(1999-present), Neuropsiquiatria Clinica (Honduras)(1999-2001), the Journal of Psychiatric Practice (2000-present), Psychiatric Quarterly (2000-present), “Studi di Psichiatria” (Italy) (2000-2003), Psychiatric Services (2001-2009) and Addictive Disorders and Their Treatment, where he is Editor-in-Chief (2001-present), Archivos de Psiquiatria (Spain) (2001-present), Actas Españolas de Psiquiatria (2001-present), World Psychiatry (2002-present), “Annales Medico Psychologiques” (2002-present), Egyptian Journal of Psychiatry (2002-present), Evidence-Based Mental Health (Spain) (2005-present), Indian Journal of Psychiatry (India) (2005-present), “Revista Latinoamericana Virtual de Psquiatria” (2006-present), Revista Latinoamericana de Psiquiatria (2006-present), “Cross-Cultural Mental Health” (2007-present) and International Review of Psychiatry (2007-present), Romanian Journal of Psychopharmacology (2007-present), FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry (2007-present), Revista Española de Psiquiatria y Salud Mental (Spain) (2008-present), SAARC Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics (2008-present), Community Mental Health Journal (2008-present), Asian Journal of Psychiatry (2008-present), Current Psychiatry (Egypt) (2008-present), Academic Psychiatry (2009-present), “Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatria” (Colombia) (2009-present), and the “Revista de Neuro-Psiquiatria” (Peru) (2009-present).
Dr. Ruiz has been honored nationally with the “Simon Bolivar Award” of the American Psychiatric Association in 1991, the “Rafael Tavares, M.D. Memorial Award” of the Association of Hispanic Mental Health Professionals in 1991, the “Exemplary Psychiatrist Award” of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1992 and 2002, the “Mental Illness Professional of the Year Award” of the Foundation for Mental Illness Awareness in 1992, the “Isaac J. Perez Award” of the South Bronx Council Inc., in 1993, the “Dean’s Excellence Award” of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999, the “Distinguished Service Award” of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians in 1995, the “Bowis Award” of The American College of Psychiatrists in 1996, the “Administrative Psychiatry Award” of the American Psychiatric Association in 1996, “Nationally recognized Honors in Clinical Service” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001, “Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Service” by the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1997, 1998 and 1999, “Outstanding Achievement in Research” by the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1998 and 2002, “Nationally Recognized Honors in Community Service” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 1996, 2001 and 2002, “The Nancy C.A. Roeske, M.D., Certificate of Excellence” by the American Psychiatric Association in 1999, “Special Presidential Commendation” by the American Psychiatric Association in 1999, “The Dr. Luis Manuel Morales” Lecture by the “Academia de Psiquiatria de Puerto Rico” in 2000, the “George Tarjan Award” by the American Psychiatric Association in 2002, “International and National Honors in Research, Teaching, and Community Services” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2003 and National Honors in Clinical Services” by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2003, International and National Honors in Community Service by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2004, The Irma J. Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents by the American Psychiatric Association in 2005, Honorary Membership in the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry in 2005, and the Presidential Commendation and the Honorary Fellowship in the World Psychiatric Association in 2005, “Honor Roll” by the Latino Behavioral Health Institute in 2005, International or National Honors in Teaching by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005, International or National Honors in Clinical Service by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005, Honorary Membership of the Mexican Psychiatric Association (2006), Federic L. Weniger Lecture in 2006 in the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, The Hamilton Ford Lecture (2006) in the Titus Harris Society and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston,. The Okasha Lecture in 2006 at Ain Shams University, Honorary Fellowship of the Egyptian Psychiatric Association in 2006, Honorary Membership of the Bolivian Psychiatric Association in 2006, Stuart Asch Memorial Lecture in 2006 in The New York Academy of Medicine & New York State Psychiatric Association, Honorary Membership of the “Sociedad Dominicana de Psiquiatria” in 2006, International or National Honors in Research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2006, International or National Honors in Clinical Service by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2006, International or National Honors in Community Services by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2006, Honorary Membership of the Spanish Psychiatric Society in 2006, Doctor Honoris Causa Degree in the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania in 2007, Keynote 133rd Presidential Address, 160th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in 2007, the “Latino Mental Health Conference Leadership in Research” Award, Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine in 2008, President Elect and Vice President, in the World Psychiatric Association in 2008, the “Irving Blumberg” Award of the American Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation in 2008, and the Distinguished Service in Psychiatry Award from the American College of Psychiatrists in 2009.
Dr. Ruiz is nationally and internationally known in the field of psychiatric education, cross-cultural psychiatry, administrative psychiatry and health services research. He has extensively lectured nationally and internationally, and has authored over 600 publications. Among his publications, he co-edited the book “Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook” in 1980, 1992, 1997, 2005, and now in press which has become the most respected nationally and internationally textbook in the field of substance abuse. He also co-edited the Ninth Edition of the Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry; this book is also considered the most respected textbook in general psychiatry nationally and internationally.
Undoubtedly, Dr. Ruiz is a very distinguished psychiatrist in the United States and abroad. Dr. Ruiz’s strong leadership and visionary qualities have led to numerous outstanding contributions in the field of public psychiatry. Also, he has trained and mentored a large number of psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals over the years.
