Hortensia Amaro is a Cuban-American educator, and formerly Distinguished Professor at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

and Associate Vice Provost of Community Research and Dean's Professor of Social Work and Preventative Medicine at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. Amaro was born in Cuba and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

as a child. From a young age, she recognized that there was a demand for public health services in her area, particularly by immigrants and minorities. Amaro assisted in the development and implementation of numerous treatment and prevention models as well as the creation and establishment of several clinical interventions and programs dedicated to substance abuse, mental health and HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention that target women and minorities.

Education

Amaro received her PhD from UCLA in 1982. After graduation she took a position at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in the School of Public Health where she remained for nearly 20 years. In the early 2000s, Amaro transitioned to

as the Associate Dean of Health Sciences for the Bouvé College of Health Sciences. In 2012, Amaro returned to California as Dean's Professor in the Suzanne Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California as well as in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the

Keck School of Medicine of USC The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California teaches and trains physicians, biomedical scientists and other healthcare professionals, conducts medical research, and treats patients. Founded in 1885, it is the second oldest ...

The Institute on Urban Health and Practice

Amaro is the founder and former director of the IUHP at Northeastern University. Amaro developed the IUHP to serve as a research center where students, faculty, and community members come together to conduct research and cofunction as a health clinic. The IUHP targets issues surrounding health equity and disease prevention among residents of the greater

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area. Amaro's research contributed significant findings to the prevention of

HIV/AIDs Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

in women and minorities. Consequently, Amaro developed and implemented numerous substance-abuse treatment and prevention programs at IUHP including: * MOM's Outpatient Treatment Program * Entre Familia Residential Treatment Program * Moving on to Recovery and Empowerment (M.O.R.E.) "an intensive outpatient treatment program for low-income women of color with co-occurring disorders." * Safe and Sound Return- Treatment Model for Incarcerated Women * Boston Consortium of Services for Men in Recovery- 'a family-centered system of substance abuse treatment."

Awards

* 2015: American Public Health Association: Sedwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished Service in Public Health. * 2012: Recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. * 2000: Distinguished visiting professor Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israe

* 1993:

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

: "Featured Psychologist" and recipient of Distinguished Contributors to Psychology in the Public Interest Early Career Award. * 1991: American Psychological Association: (emerging) Women in Psychology Leadership Award. * Hispanic Mental Health Professional Association's Rafael Tavares Award for Research

References

External links

Psychology's Feminist Voices biography

Google Scholar profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaro, Hortensia Cuban emigrants to the United States University of Southern California faculty Boston University School of Public Health faculty Northeastern University faculty University of California, Los Angeles alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the National Academy of Medicine