My past work has been focused on mental health and substance use etiology and health services utilization, and I’ve published 160 articles, chapters, and books on the etiology of Latino child-adolescent drug use, the development of co-morbid disorders (including dual diagnoses), and early... Read more

My past work has been focused on mental health and substance use etiology and health services utilization, and I’ve published 160 articles, chapters, and books on the etiology of Latino child-adolescent drug use, the development of co-morbid disorders (including dual diagnoses), and early intervention and treatment for these problems. Of special interest currently is the role of primary care in the detection and treatment of these problems.

I’m currently working on family context and substance use etiology among children in a NIDA funded project, on a project for improving diagnostic accuracy among seriously mentally ill Latinos, African Americans, and non-Latino whites, on a national Latino health survey sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Trust, and as P.I. of a research project on stigma in mental illness. I also continue to publish research on the National Latino and Asian Services Study data base and the NESARC data base. I recently moved to UCLA Dept of Family Medicine where I’m setting up a research center with colleagues on quality of care for Latinos and other underserved groups including a strong mentoring component. Substance abuse etiology in children and adolescents, and treatment approaches in primary care for comorbidities including dual diagnoses.

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I find scientific research inherently fascinating regardless of discipline, but I try to combine that interest with work in areas of research that will make a difference in the quality of life of people who are systematically disadvantaged. I grew up in disadvantaged circumstances and I recognize the handicaps it places on human development.

I find scientific research inherently fascinating regardless of discipline, but I try to combine that interest with work in areas of research that will make a difference in the quality of life of people who are systematically disadvantaged. I grew up in disadvantaged circumstances and I recognize the handicaps it places on human development.

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