Diana Santacrose, PhD

Asst. Professor of Psychology, LMU Director, The NUESTRO Lab (Neighborhoods United for Empowering Solutions for Trauma and Resilience Opportunities)

Beyond the Therapy Room: Building on Community Strengths Through Prevention

Diana Santacrose, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University and leads the NUESTRO Lab (Neighborhoods United for Empowering Solutions for Trauma and Resilience Opportunities). Her research focuses on addressing violence-related health disparities among vulnerable populations using Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) approaches to adapt and develop prevention and intervention efforts that are culturally responsive.

While at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Dr. Santacrose worked on two federally-funded grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development using CBPR to address mental health disparities impacting the Latinx community. Dr. Santacrose has received awards for her clinical supervision, advocacy and service from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Dr. Santacrose trained at UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, where she specialized in working with children and families impacted by stress, anxiety and trauma through both clinical and community intervention and prevention efforts. Dr. Santacrose has been involved in the development, adaptation and dissemination of various evidenced-based intervention and preventions to meet the needs of often marginalized populations.