Earlise Ward, PhD, MS

Earlise Ward is a Professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Dr. Ward is the co-director of the T32 Primary Care Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. She conducts community engaged clinical intervention research focused on African American adults’ mental health and culturally competent mental health services. As a researcher and licensed psychologist, Dr. Ward has witnessed first-hand in her clinical practice the impact of mental health disparities among African Americans and is committed to advancing health equity. Her program of research focuses on developing and testing culturally tailored mental health behavioral interventions for African American adults with clinical depression. Dr. Ward has expanded her research on an international level; she is collaborating with researchers in the US Virgin Islands and Ghana, Africa, to develop and test culturally tailored behavioral treatments for clinical depression. July 2020, Dr. Ward joined UW Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) in the role of faculty director for the Cancer Health Disparities Initiative (CHDI). She leads the CHDI in its mission to increase access to cancer care and engagement in clinical research among under-represented racial and ethnic minority populations. Dr. Ward is partnering with the researchers at UWCCC to examine efficacy of her culturally tailored depression intervention among patients with cancer comorbid with depression. Dr. Ward has disseminated her research findings in multiple venues including peer reviewed publications, presentations at national and international conferences, as well as presentations to local community agencies and partnerships.

• Earlise C. Ward, MS, PhD, LP – Curriculum-Vitae (PDF)