Oscar Fernando Rojas Perez, PhD

Dr. Rojas Perez is an associate research scientist at Yale University School of Medicine. He received his doctorate from the counseling psychology program at the University of Missouri and completed his pre-doctoral internship at La Clínica Hispana in the Yale Doctoral Internship in Clinical and Community Psychology. Broadly, his professional contributions focus on the development and cultural/linguistic adaptation of measures and interventions, Latinx immigrant well-being and trauma, multicultural responsive training, and public policy advocacy. Within this, he is interested in (a) identifying cultural strengths and methods of healing, (b) using culturally responsive approaches focus on equity and liberation, and (c) improving the implementation of mental health interventions. Dr. Rojas Perez’s work has been presented at multiple national and international conferences. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including three American Psychological Association fellowships, the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the National Latinx Psychological Association, and the Lauds and Laurels Distinguished Young Alumnus Award from the University of California Irvine. Dr. Rojas Perez is also an affiliate of the NIMH funded Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS Clinical and Health Services Research Core at Yale University and fellow of the NIMHD Health Disparities Research Institute. Dr. Rojas Perez's co-authored book, ¿Quiénes somos y de dónde venimos? A Historical Context to Inform Mental Health Services with Latinx Populations, examines the various forms of oppression, colonialization, and sociopolitical and sociocultural factors that continue to influence the mental health of Latinxs in the United States.

Clinically, he is licensed and has extensive experience providing evidence-based interventions (e.g., Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Prolonged Exposure Therapy) to a diverse client population (e.g., undocumented immigrants, refugee/asylum seekers, monolingual Spanish-speaker, etc.) in a variety of settings. Dr. Rojas Perez currently serves as the Senior Policy Advisor for the National Latinx Psychological Association.