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CUNY SPH is pleased to announce that Dr. Victoria Ngo has been appointed director of the Center for Innovation in Mental Health (CIMH). Associate Professor Virna Little has stepped down from the role.
Dr. Ngo is an Associate Professor of Community Health and Social Sciences at CUNY SPH and an adjunct behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Also a clinical psychologist, she has expertise in developing, evaluating, and implementing evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy for depression, anxiety, and trauma in diverse communities in the United States and abroad. Her research has focused developing implementation strategies, including task-shifting, to integrate mental health services into gateway and priority settings to extend the reach of mental health access and improve the quality of mental health care for the most underserved communities worldwide.
As Director of CIMH, Ngo seeks to take a community-partnered, evidence-based approach to develop public health solutions to address the mental health treatment and implementation gaps in both the local and global context.
“I look forward to working with the Health CUNY Initiative to develop mental health programs for the CUNY community and working with the ThriveNYC Initiative to address the mental health needs of all New Yorkers,” Ngo says. “Through my role with the Center for Immigrant, Refugee, and Global Health, I hope to deepen and extend support for global mental health implementation science.”
“I also look forward to making CIMH a cutting-edge public mental health training and research resource center for our school, our university and our wider community,” Ngo continues. “I am really grateful and excited to be part of such a passionate, dynamic, and collaborative leadership team at CUNY SPH, and to see the school continue to create opportunities where our students and researchers can develop public health solutions and contribute to true system change for better mental health and health for all.”
Ngo earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University. Her passion and commitment to working in ethnic minority and other underserved communities comes from her own experience as a Vietnamese refugee.
