Juliann Li Verdugo

Juliann Li Verdugo (she/her) is a proud Chinese American scholar from San Diego, California. She received a Bachelor of Science in clinical psychology from the University of California at San Diego (2017) and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan (2019). Juliann has led and contributed to various research projects focused on topics including severe mental illness, psychosis, Asian mental health, and culturally tailored interventions. After graduating with her MSW, Juliann served as the project coordinator for a NIH-funded grant conducting community-based participatory research on schizophrenia spectrum disorders, suicide prevention, and community mental health. Juliann is also a licensed clinical social worker and worked for over 3 years as a clinician in Michigan, practicing therapy in both Mandarin and Spanish. In pursuing a PhD in social welfare, Juliann is passionate about enhancing mental health outcomes particularly among Asian diaspora and Latino/a/e populations. She hopes to develop a research program enhancing equity and increasing access to, and quality of, mental healthcare services among marginalized communities, especially to support families impacted by severe mental illness. For fun, Juliann loves traveling, walking in nature, playing video games such as The Legend of Zelda, and spending time with her husky Strider Zuko.