This lecture will highlight an innovative, community-focused approach to delivering mental health services. Fear and shame of mental health problems cause people to suffer in silence and not seek help. In addition to stigma, under-resourced communities face historical distrust of providers and few treatment options. Dr. Hankerson has created a coalition of community leaders and academicians focused on transforming trusted community settings, like African American Churches, into therapeutic spaces for people with mental health problems. Hankerson will outline specific steps for how individuals, families, and communities can reshape mental health care.

Dr. Sidney Hankerson is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. His research and clinical work are focused on increasing access to mental health treatment for under-served groups. Dr. Hankerson also helps lead Columbia’s community Wellness Center which will be located in the Greene Science Center, the Zuckerman Institute’s new home. There, he will direct “Mental Health First Aid,” a program dedicated to improving access to quality mental health services in Upper Manhattan. He has earned over $1 million in grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, Columbia University, and private foundations.

Dr. Hankerson completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia. He then completed a dual degree MD / MBA program at Emory University. He has been at Columbia since 2009, when he earned a competitive NIMH research fellowship.Dr. Hankerson participated in President Obama’s White House Dialogue on Men’s Health and was a panelist for the White House ‘Making Healthcare Better’ series. He was recently appointed to the American Psychiatric Association’s Council of Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities and the Council of Faith and Community Partnerships.

This talk is part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Brain Insight Lecture series, offered free to the public to enhance understanding of the biology of the mind and the complexity of human behavior. The lectures are hosted by Columbia’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.