Mental health efforts at Rollins
Emory Rollins School of Public Health Home to New SAMHSA Center
Students and faculty at Rollins are dedicated toward furthering mental health research and learning. Most recently, Rollins was awarded a 5-year, $3.7 million dollar grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to establish a Southeast Mental Health Technology Transfer Center.
The 21st Century Cures Act, passed by Congress in 2016, established a national network of 10 regional technical assistance and training centers to promote uptake of evidence-based practices for people with serious mental illnesses. Rollins’ newly instated center will be the only of these centers to be based in a school of public health. It will build upon and synergize with the public health trainings available through the Region IV Public Health Training Center (also headquartered at Rollins) and partner with a variety of area mental health organizations including Georgia HOPE and Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network.
“The establishment of this center is going to synergize with the various research projects Rollins is already doing and give us an opportunity to make a greater impact throughout the Southeast,” says Benjamin Druss, MD, MPH, Rosalynn Carter Chair in Mental Health. “It’s also going to bring new opportunities for faculty and students to think about the space where implementation meets implementation science.”
Mental Health Coursework
In addition to the research opportunities afforded to students through the Southeast Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, Rollins students can specialize in mental health with the Certificate in Mental Health program. Students earning the certificate enroll in mental-health-related coursework (at least 8 credit hours), complete a practicum in public mental health and develop a capstone or thesis around public mental health.
The school’s menu of mental health courses is available to students outside of the certificate program as well, and includes such topics as the newly offered Introduction to Global Mental Health (which explores the global and cultural variances of mental health) or Mental Health in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies.
Students can further build upon their interest in this field through the student organization, Emory Mental Health Alliance, which gives members the opportunity to network with faculty, alumni and researchers working in the field of public mental health.
