Dr. Briana S. Last
University of Pennsylvania (2022) Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology Dr. Briana Last will be reviewing graduate student applications for the 2025-2026 academic year.
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Contact: Briana.last@stonybrook.edu |
Research Interests:
The social determinants of mental health; mental health services and policy research; implementation science; clinical decision-making; mental health workforce development; health equity; mixed methods; and community-based participatory research.
Current Research:
My academic mission is to improve population-level mental health and to increase the availability of quality mental health services to all who need them. Trained as an implementation scientist and clinical psychologist, my mental health services and policy research is inherently interdisciplinary and uses both qualitative and quantitative methods.
My research straddles three overlapping domains of inquiry:
- Examining the social, political, and economic determinants of mental health and mental health service provision
- Investigating implementation efforts to improve mental health service access and quality
- Understanding and improving the structural and organizational factors that influence clinicians' decision-making.
Representative Publications:
Last, B. S., & Crable, E. L. (2024). Policy Recommendations for Coordinated and Sustainable
Growth of the Behavioral Health Workforce. The Milbank Quarterly.
Wuest, J., & Last, B. S. (2024). Agents of scientific uncertainty: Conflicts over
evidence and expertise in gender-affirming care bans for minors. Social Science & Medicine, 344, 116533.
Last, B. S., Crable, E. L., Khazanov, G. K., Scheinfeld, L. P., McGinty, E. E., &
Purtle, J. (2024). Impact of US federal loan repayment programs on the behavioral
health workforce: scoping review. Psychiatric Services.
Last, B. S., Johnson, C., Dallard, N., Fernandez-Marcote, S., Zinny, A., Jackson, K., Cliggitt, L., Rudd, B.N., Mills, C. & Beidas, R. S. (2023). Implementing trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in Philadelphia: A 10-year evaluation. Implementation Research and Practice, 4, 26334895231199467.
Last, B.S. & Wuest, J. (2022). Science on trial: Policy disputes over evidence based care for sexual and gender minorities. the Behavior Therapist, 45(8), 285-297.
Last, B.S., Schriger, S.H., Becker-Haimes, E.M., Fernandez-Marcote, S., Dallard, N., Jones, B., Beidas, R.S. (2022). Economic precarity, financial strain, and job-related stress among Philadelphia’s public mental health clinicians. Psychiatric Services, 73(7), 774-786.
Full publication history available here.