UCLA Depression Grand Challenge forms Social Justice Advisory Committee

The UCLA Depression Grand Challenge has established an advisory committee to help ensure its programs and decisions promote social justice and anti-racism. The inaugural DGC Social Justice Advisory Committee includes: Jeanne Miranda, chair, Gaby Aguilera, Denise Chavira, Nicole Green, Stan Huey, Tamar Kodish, Isabelle Lanser and Anna Lau.

“In the wake of the national reckoning on systemic racism initiated in part by the murder of George Floyd, we identified the fundamental need in our work to have expert review and input in the area of social justice and anti-racism to ensure our practices, approaches and systems are not affected by inherent biases, inequities and insensitivities that will interfere with the effectiveness and generalizability of our research and treatment programs,” said DGC Director Nelson Freimer.

In June, Freimer and the DGC leadership published a solidarity statement to its supporters and program participants committing to reexamine its activities in recognition of pervasive and systemic racism, inequity and injustice, all of which must be kept at the forefront of the DGC’s research and outreach. Creating the Social Justice Advisory Committee is a direct outcome of the DGC’s promise to the national and global communities it serves and ensures that the DGC will maintain its commitment to deepen its understanding and enact meaningful change.

Jeanne Miranda, UCLA distinguished professor emeritus for the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, will chair the committee and will bring unique expertise to the role as a mental health services researcher focused on providing care to low-income and minority communities. The committee will set the cadence of its meetings, and the DGC executive committee members expect to consult with members on an as-needed basis to help the DGC advance its commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice.