Luz Marilis López

Clinical Professor, MSW/MPH Dual Degree Director, and CISWH Global Health Core Director

Specialties

• Global Health and Health Equity

• Anti-Violence and Trauma Care

• Public Health Social Work

• Substance use Prevention, Education, and Research

• Exploring Culture through Narrative Stories

• Community Participatory Strength-Based Practice & Group Work

Luz Marilis López

faculty details

Bio

 Luz Marilis López believes in strength-based and culturally responsive partnerships to advance health equity, social work, and public health practices around the globe. As the Global Health Core Director at BUSSW’s Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (CISWH), she has been working in Nicaragua in collaboration with the Superemos Foundation domestic violence program, a Boston Medical Center and Dorchester House medical brigade, and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in Esteli (UNAN-FAREM), conducting workshops on violence prevention, education, and trauma care. In Uganda, Dr. López is collaborating with the social work program at Makarere University to address the mental health needs of immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons—many survivors of war and sexual violence. 

Dr. López is a faculty affiliate of the Boston University Center for Forced Displacement and collaborates in their Border Studies Program at the border of Rio Grande Valley Texas and Mexico. She also conducts an annual summer cultural immersion course and research experience in Puerto Rico, where MSW students work with individuals who are homeless and in recovery from substance use. These students gain invaluable experience with outreach and community-based participatory research approaches for Latinx and other racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse groups.

Dr. López is an advisory board member of the National Hispanic & Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network. At BUSSW, she also serves as director of the dual degree program in social work and public health (MSW/MPH).

Education

BA (Social Sciences, Psychology minor)

University of Puerto Rico

MSW

State University of New York at Buffalo

MPH (International Public Health)

Tulane University

PhD (Social Work)

Tulane University

Courses

CP 759 Introduction to Clinical Social Work Practice
CP 760 Differential Social Work with Groups
CP 803 Clinical Practice and Trauma
CP 809 Alcoholism and Drug Abuse: Assessment and Treatment
Puerto Rico cultural immersion, Public Health Social Work Travel Course
HB752 Exploring Culture through Narratives: Human Behavior & Clinical Perspectives

Courses

Publications

Publications

Presentations

Presentations

Grants

Grants

Professional Activities and Certifications

Professional Activities and Certifications

Awards and Honors

Awards

2016: Outstanding Contribution to Boston University School of Social Work, Annual Alumni Awards Program, Boston University, Boston, MA

2015: Fellow, The Partnership Leadership Fellows Program. Selected for a one-year mid-career leadership program. This is designed to strengthen the racial and ethnically diverse leadership in Boston and the State of Massachusetts. https://www.thepartnershipinc.org/ Dr. López was sponsored by the BU Office of Human Resources and School of Social Work.

May 2010: Women of Courage Award for contributions to Education in Massachusetts. La Alianza Hispana, Boston, Massachusetts

May 2009: Staff Excellence Award, Casa Esperanza Substance Abuse Program For groundbreaking work in the addiction field and commitment to the staff and residents.

June 2005: Training Fellowship, National Hispanic Science Research Summer Institute. Houston,Texas. Funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes ofHealth (NIH).

July 2005Training Fellowship, Family Research Consortium, Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health, New Orleans

Awards and Honors

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