Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, Bat-Yaacov professor in child psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and director of both the Global Center for Children and Families and the Center for HIV Identification Prevention and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), will be the 2010 Bennett Lecturer in Prevention Science.
The lecture, “Mobile Technologies to Diffuse Preventive Interventions Globally,” will be held from 4 to 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 4, in The Nittany Lion Inn, Ballrooms A and B. The lecture is sponsored by the Penn State Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development.
Rotheram-Borus received her doctorate from the University of Southern California in clinical psychology with an emphasis in child and community psychology. She has spent the past 20 years developing, evaluating and disseminating evidence-based interventions for children and families. She has worked extensively with adolescents, especially those at risk for substance abuse, HIV, homelessness, depression, suicide, and long-term unemployment. A major initiative that she co-initiated and directs, the UCLA Family Commons in Santa Monica, California, is a wellness center offering accessible, science-based tools to build healthy families. The goal of the Commons is to merge science with engaging, experiential learning, bringing UCLA’s vast wealth of expertise into the community in a way that appeals to families. The Commons are funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
Rotheram-Borus has directed and implemented several landmark intervention studies that have demonstrated the benefits of providing behavior change programs and support to families in risky situations. Several of these programs have received national and international recognition, including designation as model programs by the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Currently, Rotheram-Borus has ongoing projects in Uganda, China, and South Africa, as well as the United States. She has authored or co-authored more than 200 journal articles, including publications in Science, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the American Journal of Public Health. She has received more than 40 grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse to design prevention programs for children and families at high risk for HIV, mental health problems, suicide, and substance abuse. In 2001, Science identified her as the second-most funded NIH multi-grant recipient; she was the only woman in the top 10.
Recent Bennett Lecturers have included Mary Ann Pentz, professor of preventive medicine and director of the Center for Prevention Policy Research, University of Southern California; Thomas Dishion, professor of psychology and director of the Child and Family Center, University of Oregon; Roger Weissberg, distinguished professor of psychology and education and president of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), University of Illinois at Chicago; and G. Alan Marlatt, professor of psychology and director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center, University of Washington.