LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 30, 2019 / Dr. Cynthia Telles from the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine was recognized at the Board of Supervisors Meeting on October 16, 2018. She was recognized for her appointment as the Director of the UCLA Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence
Dr. Cynthia Telles with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
The Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence (HNCE) will provide leadership and a cutting-edge learning environment dedicated to best practices for optimally serving the unique mental health needs of the Hispanic/Latino community. The Center will bring together a multidisciplinary team to develop models of clinical service, training, and research focused on culturally and linguistically proficient care aimed at reducing disparities in treatment outcome. Very importantly, the HNCE's mission will address issues of mental health equity and will expand the cadre of highly-trained mental health professionals equipped to provide excellent services to culturally diverse, Spanish-speaking and bilingual persons and their families.
The HNCE will include clinical programs, such as the Spanish-Speaking Psychosocial Clinic and the Cultural Neuropsychology Program, and it will provide a broad spectrum of integrated clinical services, including psychiatric evaluation, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and neuropsychological assessment. The Center will offer training to psychiatric residents, psychology and neuropsychology interns and post-doctoral fellows, and social work interns.
The Hispanic Neuropsychiatric Center of Excellence will be lead by Dr. Cynthia Telles, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Director of the Spanish-Speaking Psychosocial Clinic at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She will be joined by other distinguished faculty members, who have received national recognition for their commitment to serving the mental health needs of diverse populations and for developing innovative bilingual training models. Dr. Xavier Cagigas will serve as Associate Director of the HNCE and Co-director of the Cultural Neuropsychology Program. Dr. Cagigas is the Founding Director of the UCLA Cultural Neuropsychology Initiative, the former Director of Clinical Services of the UCLA Medical Psychology Assessment Center (MPAC), and Immediate-Past President of the Hispanic Neuropsychological Society. More recently, he played an instrumental role in the Redesign Committee for MPAC where he will continue to supervise trainees. Dr. Paola Suarez also will serve as an important member of the HNCE in her role as Co-director of the Cultural Neuropsychology Program. For the past two years, Dr. Suarez has served as a faculty member in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and as Associate Director of the Cultural Neuropsychology Initiative. She was recently elected Chair of the Culture and Diversity Committee of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.
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SOURCE: Kaiser Permanente