The Next Normal: Mental Health

M. Daniele Fallin, PhD, studies how environments, behaviors, genetic variation, and epigenetic variation contribute to risk for psychiatric disease, with a focus on autism.

Dr. Mezuk is the Director of the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health and is an Associate Chair in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She is a psychiatric epidemiologist whose research focuses on understanding the intersections of mental and physical health. Much of her work has examined the consequences of depression for medical morbidity and functioning in mid- and late-life, with particular attention to metabolic diseases such as diabetes and frailty. She is also the Director of the Michigan Integrative Well-Being and Inequalities (MIWI) Training Program, a NIH-funded methods training program that supports innovative, interdisciplinary research on the interrelationships between mental and physical health as they relate to health disparities. She is committed to translating research into practice, and since 2013 has collaborated with partners at the YMCA on evaluating and augmenting their diabetes self-management programming to incorporate psychosocial aspects of health. Finally, she writes a blog for Psychology Today called “Ask an Epidemiologist.”

Dr. Wang’s research broadly focuses on the role of stigma as a psychosocial determinant of mental and behavioral health disparities among diverse marginalized populations. She received a K01 mentored scientist career development award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to investigate the associations among mental illness stigma, emotion dysfunction (i.e., intense, prolonged negative affect and/or difficulties in regulating one’s emotions), and substance use among adults with depression. Some methodological approaches utilized to accomplish this research include psychophysiological assessments (e.g., heart rate variability, salivary cortisol) and ecological momentary assessment (e.g., daily diaries). Dr. Wang is also involved in a number of projects that examines the health inequities facing people with disabilities, including a mixed-method study on the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the disability community.

Lynn Jolicoeur is a senior field producer, reporter and editor at WBUR. As field producer, she researches and writes host interview segments and feature stories on a vast array of topics for the signature early-evening news program, All Things Considered. Lynn also reports for the station’s local broadcasts (with some stories airing nationally on NPR, as well). She has developed beats covering mental health and homelessness, and most recently she’s reported on the pandemic’s impact on both. Lynn is particularly passionate about reporting on the issue of suicide. In 2015 she produced and reported a 15-part, yearlong series on the suicide crisis. She has reported in depth on efforts to end chronic homelessness and weaknesses in the system for sheltering and housing adults experiencing homelessness. Prior to working at WBUR, Lynn was a television reporter for 18 years – most recently at Boston’s WCVB-TV Channel 5. She covered areas from crime and the justice system to politics, medicine, and social issues.