Catalina Cañizares is a psychologist with a Master’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology from Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia, and a PhD in Social Welfare from Florida International University. Her academic journey reflects a deep commitment to understanding and addressing critical issues in mental health, particularly those affecting adolescents.
Dr. Cañizares’s research focuses on adolescent suicide behaviors and ideation, aiming to reduce and prevent suicide among young people by identifying and understanding the main risk factors and social determinants that increase vulnerability. She employs supervised machine learning methods to uncover patterns that contribute to these risks. Her research extends to emotional disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and trauma, and their relationship with cognitive processes. Additionally, she is involved in disaster mental health research, with a particular focus on first responders’ mental health following disasters. Her work with 9/11 first responders relocated to Florida exemplifies her dedication to this field. Dr. Cañizares is currently developing a network meta-analysis to identify effective interventions for reducing PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Alongside her research, she is passionate about data science, spending considerable time cleaning and transforming data for research purposes, and is dedicated to teaching software literacy, particularly R, to colleagues and students.
Before joining NYU, Dr. Cañizares coordinated a psychological center where Master’s students in Clinical and Health Psychology practiced their skills with patients, and she also oversaw the academic programs offered by the School of Education at Los Andes University. Her achievements have been recognized through a Fulbright Scholarship, which enabled her to pursue her PhD, and she was honored with the Outstanding Graduate Award from FIU for her exceptional academic, professional, and personal accomplishments.