The Pitt School of Social Work welcomed three new faculty members this fall.
Assistant Professor Victor Figuereo
Dr. Figuereo received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Clark University and master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Ball State University. He completed his master’s degree in social work and doctorate degree at the Boston College School of Social Work.
Dr. Figuereo came to Pitt through the Latinx cluster hire initiative and says “it stood out to me as an intentional investment into serving the needs of Latinx scholars, students, and communities in Pittsburgh. The School of Social Work's investment in community engagement and fostering anti-racist and inclusive social work practice, research and education was crucial in my decision to come to Pitt. I believe it represents a supportive and collaborative space my research and I can grow and flourish to have meaningful impact to Latinx communities in Pittsburgh and in the US.”
Dr. Figuereo’s research aims to understand the pathways between structural racism and Latinx mental health and well-being. He is currently focusing on racialization and the intersection of race and ethnicity in predicting psychological distress as well as factors of racial self-classification among racially and ethnically diverse Latinx adults with specific attention to Black self-classification. “The lived experiences of Black and Afro-Latinxs in the US are rendered invisible in Latinx mental health disparities research” said Dr. Figuereo. “With this line of research, I hope to help make visible the lived experiences of Black and Afro-Latinxs in the US and contribute to elimination of Latinx mental health disparities.”
Assistant Professor Nev Jones
Dr. Nev Jones received her BA in Philosophy from the University of Oregon, her MA and PhD in Community Psychology from DePaul University, and was a Mind & Culture Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychiatry & Medical Anthropology at Stanford University.
Dr. Jones’ research revolves around a few major areas: improving (1) public sector mental health services for youth and adults with psychiatric disabilities, including psychosis; (2) long-term outcomes in serious psych disabilities, with particular attention to underlying social and structural determinants; and (3) strengthening the extent to which policy, research and practice engage, involve and center individuals with the experiences targeted by social work interventions: ie individuals with disabilities, serious mental illness, histories of incarceration, structural racism, housing instability and poverty.
Dr. Jones shares: “I have always collaborated with and admired social workers and feel incredibly lucky (as a disciplinary outsider) to join a school and discipline with such a strong commitment to social justice and systems change.”
Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator for the CWEB program Dr. Brooke Rawls
Dr. Rawls is an alumna of the Child Welfare Education for Baccalaureates (CWEB) Program. She graduated from Slippery Rock University in 2010 and went on to work for The Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau. She later went on to receive her Master of Social Work
(MSW) from California University of Pennsylvania in 2014. In May of 2019, Dr. Rawls graduated from Robert Morris University with a Ph.D. in Instructional Management and Leadership. Her dissertation focused on the impact of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue on bereavement doulas.
Her positive experience with the CWEB program, her commitment to strengthening the child welfare system, and her dedication to helping keep families together led her to apply for the vacant CWEB Academic Coordinator position.
Dr. Brooke Rawls is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Pennsylvania. She joined the University of Pittsburgh in June of 2021 as the CWEB Academic Coordinator and Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work. Dr. Rawls has more than 11 years of diverse experience within the field of social work including, child welfare, medical social work, grief and loss support, and individual/couples counseling. She also has a passion for working with families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss.