Dr. Mary McKay is a prominent researcher nationally and internationally. She has received substantial federal funding for her research focused on meeting the mental health and prevention needs of inner-city youth and families. Currently, she is a Professor of Psychiatry and Community Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She has held professorships at Columbia University and University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. McKay has developed a substantial body of research findings around engagement practices to improve engagement with mental health services in urban areas. She has worked closely with New York State Office of Mental Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the National Institute of Mental Health to create evidence-based engagement interventions and to test models of dissemination and training for mental health professionals in engagement best practices.
Additionally, one of her most successful research projects is the CHAMP (Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project) Family Program which is a collaborative effort between university and community members to provide HIV prevention and mental health promotion services in urban, low income communities. This project began in Chicago and is now being replicated in New York City, South Africa, and Trinidad. She is embarking on a new project where the same collaborative model will be used to provide HIV prevention and mental health promotion services in family homeless shelters. |
