Dr. Mary McKernan McKay joined New York University Silver School of Social Work in September 2011 as Professor and Director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Prior to joining Silver, she served as the head of the Division of Mental Health Services Research at Mount Sinai. Working with colleagues in the field and with community stakeholders, she has developed a substantial body of research findings around meeting the mental health and health needs of children, youth, and families in poverty-impacted urban areas.
Dr. McKay has significant expertise in services and implementation research methods, as well as more than 15 years of experience conducting HIV prevention and care-oriented studies, all of which has been supported by continuous NIH funding. In addition, she has collaborated with the National Institute of Mental Health, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to create evidence-based engagement interventions and to test models of dissemination and training for mental health professionals in engagement best practices.
She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles on mental and behavioral health, HIV/ AIDS prevention and behavior modification, and other urban health issues, and she is a member of New York State’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Oversight Panel.