Ishita S. Arora, PhD

Ishita Sunita Arora, Ph.D., (she/her/hers) is a post-doctoral researcher at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Arora has a joint appointment with the Office for Women in Medicine and Science (OWiMS) within the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Department of Psychiatry’s Division of Prevention and Community Research (DPCR). At OWiMS, she conducts prevention research, implementation, and evaluation of the programs aiming at increasing gender equity and academic career development of all women within Yale School of Medicine. At DPCR, her research focuses on two core areas - prevention and intervention of gender-based violence, and the promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.

Dr. Arora is a clinical and community psychologist who has worked with underserved and marginalized populations in the resource-limited settings of India and the United States. Dr. Arora has extensive experience in the evaluation of preventive interventions in institutes of higher education, and in research aimed at identifying key risk and protective factors predictive of intimate partner violence, mental health services accessibility and utilization, and other behavioral outcomes.

Dr. Arora completed her predoctoral fellowship at Yale University’s Department of Psychiatry - The Consultation Center (TCC) and Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC). During this time, she 1) worked with the Department of Psychiatry’s Anti-Racism TaskForce; 2) worked towards building a supplement to New Haven’s police crisis response system for people living with mental health concerns, substance use, and unhoused populations; 3) helped conduct a consumer-based participatory research project in collaboration with consumer researchers of CMHC to assess consumers' mental health needs during COVID-19. Dr. Arora earned her Ph.D. in Clinical and Community Psychology from the University of Maryland and a Master’s in Liberal Studies and Leadership from Ashoka University, India. In India, she has worked as a therapist for street kids and unhoused families for the not-for-profit organization Salaam Baalak Trust. Dr. Arora’s work is guided by anti-racist, anti-casteist, anti-oppressive, and decolonial praxis.