Kathryn Lovero, PhD

  • Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences
212-304-5483

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Overview

Kate Lovero, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Lovero’s research centers on the use of implementation science to improve the prevention and treatment of adolescent mental disorders in resource-limited settings, focusing particularly on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In this work, she employs multilevel stakeholder engagement to generate health care delivery models that address the complex drivers of global health inequity. Dr. Lovero also focuses on the development and validation of measurement instruments for mental health problems as well as the adaptation of mental health interventions and implementation science research tools for non-Western settings. She currently collaborates with governmental and non-governmental organizations on research and capacity-building projects in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Prior to her position at Columbia University, Dr. Lovero was a Fogarty International Center Global Health Equity Scholar and Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she worked to define barriers to and develop improved services for maternal-child health. Dr. Lovero completed her doctoral work in Neuroscience as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of California San Francisco, where she examined the molecular structures underlying normal and pathological synapse development.

Academic Appointments

  • Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BS, University of California San Diego
  • PhD, University of California San Francisco

Research

Research Interests

  • Global Mental Health
  • Health Equity and Disparities
  • Implementation Science

Selected Publications

Moyano A, Vergara D, Mirti A, Bonz AG, Monar A, Astudillo E, Vaca S, Cordova K, Armijos A, Barroso A, Cherrez C, Cottle J, DuBois A, Capriles IF, Grandes JP, Irarrazaval M, Jaramillo B, Kane JC, Martinez-Viciana C, Mascayano F, Rodríguez Y, Schojan M, Sikkema K, Susser E, Ventevogel P, Wessells M, Zambrano López A, Lovero KL*, Greene MC*. Integrating mental health and psychosocial support into economic inclusion programming for displaced families in Ecuador. Confl Health. 2024 Nov 6;18(1):68. doi: 10.1186/s13031-024-00629-x. PMID: 39506874; PMCID: PMC11542440. *co-senior authors.

Lovero KL*, Kemp CG*, Wagenaar BH, Giusto A, Greene MC, Powell BJ, Proctor EK. Application of the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) compilation of strategies to health intervention implementation in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Implementation Science. 2023 Oct 30;18(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s13012-023-01310-2. PMID: 37904218; PMCID: PMC10617067. *co-first authors.

Lovero KL, Dos Santos PF, Come AX, Wainberg ML, Oquendo MA. Suicide in Global Mental Health. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2023 Jun;25(6):255-262. doi: 10.1007/s11920-023-01423-x. Epub 2023 May 13. PMID: 37178317; PMCID: PMC10182355.

Lovero KL, dos Santos PF, Kann B, Adam S, Bila C, Rodrigues T, Fernandes, ME, Duarte CS, Beidas RS, Wainberg ML. Leveraging Stakeholder Engagement and Virtual Environments to Develop a Strategy for Implementation of Adolescent Mental Health Services Integrated within Primary Care Clinics of Mozambique. Frontiers in Public Health. 2022 May 26. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.876062.

Come AX, Polanco-Roman L, Dos Santos PF, Fumo W, Mutemba R, Pathare S, Wainberg ML, Oquendo MA, Duarte CS, Mello MF, Lovero KL*. Social and Psychiatric Factors of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Mozambican Adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 19:S0890-8567(22)00193-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2022.03.032. PMID: 35452784. *corresponding author

Lovero KL, Giusto AM, Wainberg ML. Evidence for efficacy of psychosocial interventions in LMICs. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020 Feb;7(2):113-114. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30531-0. Epub 2020 Jan 13. PMID: 31948936; PMCID: PMC7330888.