Ana T. Flores

Ana T. Flores is a proud daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college student. Her scholarship is focused on advancing culturally responsive services for Latines with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis and identifying strategies for removing structural barriers to quality care. Informed by her own experiences working with diverse individuals and families living with serious mental illness, Ana’s long-term goals are to (1) contribute to an understanding of the needs and experiences of Latines living with schizophrenia; (2) inform intervention research with the expertise of service users and their families and communities; and (3) to develop equitable community implementation plans that support increased engagement, acceptability, and relevance of mental health treatment for Latines.  

Ana’s dissertation, titled “Social Cognition in Latines with Schizophrenia,” supported by an NIMH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship, is a novel exploration of the construct and measurement of social cognition in this demographic. Her methodological approach incorporates psychometric analyses, multivariate regressions, and cross-cultural cognitive interviews. Beyond her dissertation, Ana is an active investigator in Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET) and Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) research as related to equitable implementation and ethnoracial outcomes. Additionally, she is involved with a qualitative inquiry aimed at understanding cultural adaptations and structural strategies for implementing early intervention services for psychosis in Latine communities. Using mixed methods and critical approaches, Ana is committed to research that is community-engaged, collaborative, and participatory, all of which contribute to democratizing inquiry into solutions for mental health disparities. 

Research Interests

• Mental health services for serious mental illness in diverse communities 
• Latine mental health and intersectional disparities in serious mental illness 
• Cross-cultural measurement and interventions  
• Community engagement and implementation 

Current Funded Projects

NIMH F31 MH131334 ‘Social Cognition in Latinx Individuals with Schizophrenia’
A mixed methods investigation of social cognition in a sample of Latines with a diagnosis of schizophrenia to better understand cross-cultural measurement and construct differences compared to non-Latine white samples.

Additional Research Activities

• Provider Perspectives on the Implementation and Adaptation of Early Psychosis Services in Diverse Settings
  Role: Co-principal Investigator with Nev Jones
• Optimizing Disability Benefit Decisions and Outcomes in First Episode Psychosis
  (NIMH R01 MH125868, PIs: Nev Jones, Lisa Dixon, Howard Goldman)
  Role: Lead on Latinx and Spanish-language Methodology
• Cognitive Enhancement for Persistent Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia
  (NIH/NIMH, R01 MH118267, PI: Shaun M. Eack)
  Role: Intervention delivery and Analyst
• Community Implementation of Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  Role: Co-principal Investigator with Shaun M. Eack
• Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder
  (NIH/NIMH, R01 MH106450, PI: Shaun M. Eack)
  Role: Intervention delivery, analyst

Representative Publications

Flores, A. T., Barrio, C., Yu, L., Eack, S. M., Pinkham, A. (Under Review) Cross-Cultural Psychometric Properties of Social Cognition Measures in U.S. Latinxs with Schizophrenia.

Murphy, S. M., Flores, A. T., Wojtalik, J. A., Keshavan, M. S., & Eack, S.M. (Under Review). Symptom Contributors to Quality of Life in Schizophrenia: Exploratory Factor and Network Analyses.

Flores, A. T., Hogarty, S.S., Mesholam-Gately, R., Barrio, C., Keshavan, M.S., & Eack, S.M. (2022). Cognitive Gains as a Mechanism of Functional Capacity Improvement in Schizophrenia: Results from a Multi-Site Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Fussell-Ware, D.J., Ballentine, K.L., Flores, A.T., Ashcraft, L.E., Mangum, L., MacKenzie, K.T, Thyberg, C.T., Ballard, A.J., & Omowale, S.S. (2023). Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to promote anti-racism in social work higher education. Advances in Social Work.

Wojtalik, J., Flores, A. T., Keshavan, M.S., & Eack, S.M. (2022). Premorbid Sociality Moderates Social Adjustment Change During Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Adults with Early Schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.

Radovic, A., Odenthal, K., Flores, A. T., Miller, E., & Stein, B. D. (2020). Prescribing Technology to Increase Uptake of Depression Treatment in Primary Care: A Pre-implementation Focus Group Study of SOVA (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents). Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings.

Current Service Activities 

• Latin American Graduate Organization of Students (LAGOS), Member
• School of Social Work, Doctoral Student Organization (DSO), Doctoral Committee Representative
• School of Social Work, Anti-Racist Doctoral Program Student Committee, Founding Member

Social Media

Twitter: @_anatflores