Joanna Almeida

Education

• MSW, Boston University
• MPH, Boston University
• ScD, Harvard School of Public Health
• BA, University of Vermont

Courses

• SW 464 Understanding suicide: Prevention, intervention & postvention
• SW 481 Social work, health & healthcare
• SW 441  Research methods
• SW 509 Program evaluation in social work practice
• SW 633 Survey research methods
• SW 685 PhD Integrative research & professional development seminar    

Publications

Partial list of peer reviewed publications

Belanoff, CM, Black, AC, Ncube N, Acevedo-Garcia, D & Almeida, J. (2024). Neighborhood child opportunity and preterm birth rates by race and ethnicity in Massachusetts, 2011-2015. JAMA Network Open. (In press).

Mbao M, Hamilton-Mason J, Keefe B & Almeida J. (2024). A phenomenological study of lived experiences of Aging Network Care Managers of working with older adults during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences. (In press).

Erbetta KF*, Thomas KA & Almeida J. (2023). Racial/ethnic and nativity inequalities in gestational diabetes mellitus: The role of psychosocial stressors. Women’s Health. Advance online publication. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2023.06.007.

Almeida J, Barber C, Rosen, RK, Nicolopoulos A & O’Brien, KHM. (2023). “In the moment I wanted to kill myself, and then after I didn't”: A qualitative investigation of suicide planning, method choice, and method substitution among adolescents hospitalized following a suicide attempt. Youth & Society. 55(1): 29-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X211035950

Mbao, M*, Keefe, B, Almeida, J & Hamilton-Mason, J. (2023). Care managers in the aging network: Increasing self-efficacy in human service providers. Journal of Applied Gerontology. DOI: 10.1177/07334648231156134.

Hightower HH, Almeida J & Anderson J. (2022). Reimaging suicide prevention as a social justice issue: Getting back to social work's roots. Social Work. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swad005.

Almeida J, Belanoff C, Erbetta K* & Black, C. (2022). Ethnic, nativity and country of origin inequities in preterm birth among Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites in New York City: What's stress got to do with it? Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01392-y

Erbetta, KF, Almeida, J & Waldman, MR. (2022). Racial discrimination: A novel risk factor for racial, ethnic and nativity inequalities in gestational diabetes mellitus. Social Science & Medicine-Population Health. 19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101176

Belanoff, CM, Alade, MO & Almeida J. (2021). Preterm birth among US and foreign-born non-Hispanic Black birthing parents in Massachusetts: Variation by nativity, region, and country of origin. Maternal & Child Health Journal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03368-0

Almeida J, Barber C, Rosen, RK, Nicolopoulos A & O'Brien, KHM. (2021). "In the moment I wanted to kill myself, and then after I didn't": A qualitative investigation of suicide planning, method choice, and method substitution among adolescents hospitalized following a suicide attempt. Youth & Society. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X211035950.

Almeida J, Belanoff CM & Erbetta KF. (2021). The time has come for all states to measure racial discrimination: A call to action for the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). Maternal & Child Health Journal. 26: 834–844. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03160-0.

O'Brien KMH, Nicolopoulos A, Almeida J, Aguinaldo, LD & Rosen, RK. (2019). Why adolescents attempt suicide: A qualitative study. Archives of Suicide Research. 1-18. DOI: 10.1080/13811118.2019.1675561.

O'Brien KMH, Almeida J, View L, Schofield M, Hall W, Aguinaldo LD, Ryan C.A, & Maneta, E. (2019). Development of a safety and coping planning intervention for suicidal adolescents in acute psychiatric care. Cognitive & Behavioral Practice. DOI:10.1016/j.cbpra.2019.08.003.

Sattler LJ, Thomas KA, Vaughn M, Almeida J & White L. (2019). Community Matters: GxE Interactions between Dopamine and Serotonin polymorphisms and community-level factors in predicting childhood aggression and violent behavior. Journal of Criminal Justice. 61:58-71. DOI:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2019.03.002.

Lee DS, Colby SM, Rohsenow DJ, Martin R, Rosales R, Tavares-McCallum T, Falcon L, Almeida J & Cortes DE. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of motivational interviewing tailored for heavy drinking Latinos/as. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.87(9): 815-830. DOI:10.1037/ccp0000428.

Taliaferro LA, Almeida J, Aguinaldo LD, McManama O'Brien KH. (2019). Function and progression of non-suicidal self-injury and relationship with suicide attempts: a qualitative investigation with an adolescent clinical sample. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry.24(4). 653-657. DOI: 10.1177/1359104519862340.

Almeida J, Becares L, Bettegowda VR, Ahluwalia I & Erbetta KF. (2018). Racial/ethnic inequities in low birth weight and preterm birth: The role of multiple forms of stress. Maternal & Child Health Journal. 22:1154-1163. DOI: 10.1007/s10995-018-2500-7.

Wintner S, Almeida J & Hamilton-Mason J. (2017). Perceptions of microaggression in K-8 school settings: An exploratory study. Children and Youth Services Review. 79:594-601. DOI:10.1016/j/childyouth.2017.07.020.

Almeida J, O'Brien KMH, Gross, EB & Gironda C. (2017). Development, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive course on suicide in a Masters of Social Work program. Journal of Social Work Education. DOI:10.1080/10437797.2017.1302856.

Almeida J, O'Brien, KMH & Norton K. (2017). Social work's ethical responsibility to train MSW students to work with suicidal clients. Social Work. 63(2) 181-183. DOI:10.1093/sw/swx011.

Almeida J, Biello K, Wintner S, Pedraza F & Viruell-Fuentes, EA .(2016). The association between anti-immigrant policies and perceived discrimination among Latinos in the US: A multilevel analysis. Social Science & Medicine-Population Health. 2:897-903. DOI.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.11.003.

Lee, CS, Colby, SM, Magill, M, Almeida, J, Tavares, T, Rohsenow, DJ. (2016). Theory and mechanisms of behavior change in a randomized controlled trial of culturally adapted motivational interviewing for Hispanic heavy drinkers: Study protocol. Contemporary Clinical Trials.50:193-200.

O'Brien, KMH, Aguinaldo, LD, Almeida, J, & White, E. (2016).The role of parents in safety planning interventions with suicidal adolescents. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience.18(1):727-729.

Lee CS, Almeida J, Colby SM, Tavares T & Rohsenow D. (2015). Acculturation, hazardous drinking and depressive symptomatology among Hispanics enrolled in a clinical trial.Addiction Research & Theory. 24(1):69-79. DOI.org/10.3109/16066359.2015.1072517.

Almeida J, Sonneville KR & Duncan DT. (2015). Obesogenic behavior among adolescents: The role of generation and time in the US. Ethnicity & Disease. 25(1):58-64.

Sonneville K, Duncan DT, Johnson RM & Almeida J. (2015). Are first generation adolescents less likely to be overweight? Results from the Boston Youth Survey. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.1-5. DOI:10.1007/s10903-013-9937-y.

Schmidt NM, Tchetgen Tchetgen EJ, Ehntholt E, Almeida J, Nguyen QC, Molnar BM, Azrael D & Osypuk TL. (2014). Does neighborhood collective efficacy for families change over time? The Boston Neighborhood Survey. Journal of Community Psychology. 42(1): 61–79. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.21594.

Almeida J, Mulready-Ward C, Bettegowda VR & Ahluwalia I. (2014). The contribution of social ties and social support to racial/ethnic differences in low birth weight and preterm birth among mothers in New York City, 2004-2007. Maternal & Child Health Journal.18(1): 90-100. DOI: 10.1007/s10995-013-1238-5.

Almeida J, Johnson RM, Matsumoto A & Godette D.(2012). Substance use, generation and time in the United States: The modifying role of gender for urban immigrant adolescents. Social Science & Medicine.75(12):2069-2075. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.05.016.

Acevedo-Garcia D, Sanchez-Vaznaugh E, Viruell-Fuentes E, & Almeida J.(2012).Integrating social epidemiology into immigrant health research: A cross-national framework. Social Science & Medicine. 75(12):2060-2068. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.04.040.

Acevedo-Garcia D & Almeida J. (2012).Special Issue Introduction: Place migration and health. Social Science & Medicine. 75(12):2055-2059. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.008.

Almeida J, Johnson RM, McNamara M & Gupta J. (2011). Peer violence perpetration among urban adolescents: Dispelling the myth of the violent immigrant. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 26 (13):2658-80. DOI:10.1177/0886260510388288.

Borges G, Azrael D, Almeida J, Johnson RM, Molnar BE, Hemenway D & Miller M. (2011). Immigration, suicide ideation and deliberate self-injury in the Boston Youth Survey. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior. 41(2):193-202. DOI: 10.1111/j.1943-278X.2010.00016.x.

Almeida J, Subramanian SV, Kawachi I & Molnar BE. (2011). Is blood thicker than water? Social support, depression and the modifying role of ethnicity/nativity status. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 65(1): 51-6. DOI:10.1136/jech.2009.092213.

Almeida J, Johnson RM, Corliss HL, Molnar BE & Azrael D. (2009). Emotional distress among LGBT youth: The influence of perceived discrimination based on sexual orientation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 38(7):1001-14. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-009-9397-9.

Almeida J, Molnar BE, Kawachi I, & Subramanian SV. (2009). A multilevel analysis of social ties and social cohesion among Latinos and their neighborhoods: Results from Chicago. Journal of Urban Health. 86 (5):745-59. DOI:10.1007/s11524-009-9375-2.

Almeida J, Kawachi I, Molnar, BE, & Subramanian, SV. (2009). Ethnicity and nativity status as determinants of perceived social support: Testing the concept of familism. Social Science & Medicine. 68(10):1852-8. DOI: org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.02.029.

Almeida J, Cohen AP, Subramanian SV & Molnar, BE. (2008). Increased worker caseloads in state child protective service agencies as a potential explanation for the decline in child sexual abuse: A multilevel analysis. Child Abuse & Neglect. 32(3): 367-75. DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.08.003.

List of complete works at My Bibliography.

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

• American Public Health Association
• National Association of Social Workers
• American Association of Suicidology
• Society for Social Work and Research
• Cross National Network, Place, Migration & Health

Awards

• University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, Simmons University
• Silver Lining Award, Simmons University/Davis Education Foundation
• 2014 Attendee, Research Training Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Injury Control Research Center on Suicide Prevention.
• 2012 Co-guest editor of Special Issue of Social Science & Medicine on Place, Migration & Health
• 2012-2013 NIH/NICHD Loan Repayment Program recipient, Pediatric research (renewal)
• 2010-2012 NIH/NICHD Loan Repayment Program recipient, Pediatric research
• 2010-2012 Fellow, NIH/NIDA Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute on Hispanic Drug Use
• 2007 Fellow, Institute on Immigration and Social Change, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
• 2007 Recipient, Charles H. Smith Bequest Award, Harvard University
• 2005 Student Membership Award, American Public Health Association
• 2003 Outstanding Incoming Student Award, University of Michigan, School of Public Health (declined)
• 2001 Finalist, Distinguished Service & Achievement Award, Public Health Prevention Service, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
• 1996 Hubie Jones Urban Practice Award, Boston University School of Social Work

Media Mentions

• Discrimination against Latinos in United States has risen, study says, Thomson Reuters Foundation, December, 2016
• Simmons College Course Prepares Future Social Workers To Address Suicide, WBUR, April, 2016