About
Funlola Are, PhD
Dr. Funlola Are is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UTHealth Houston. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and nationally recognized researcher whose work focuses on improving access to evidence-based mental health care for children and families, from underserved communities.
She is the Director, and Principal Investigator of the Nurturing Resilience Initiative (NRI), a multidisciplinary program that integrates research, clinical services, workforce development, and community partnerships to expand access to trauma-informed, evidence-based care. Through NRI, she has developed innovative clinical programs that bring mental health services into pediatric primary care, schools, and community organizations, helping reduce barriers to care and improve outcomes for children exposed to adversity and trauma.
Her research centers on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based interventions for childhood traumatic stress. She is particularly interested in developing scalable models of care that enable pediatric providers, schools, and community organizations to identify and respond to children’s mental health needs earlier. Dr. Are currently serves as Principal Investigator of a study adapting and evaluating a stepped-care Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) intervention for delivery in pediatric primary care, with the goal of increasing access to effective trauma treatment for children who may not otherwise receive specialty mental health services.
In addition to her research, Dr. Are also co-directs the CHAMP Psychology Extension Clinic, and serves as Training Director for the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) program, which provides telemental health services to children in schools across Texas.
Dr. Are is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of clinical scientists and mental health professionals. She has mentored postdoctoral fellows, psychology trainees, medical students, research assistants, and interdisciplinary clinicians.
Her professional leadership includes service on the editorial boards of Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology and Children’s Healthcare. She is an inaugural UTHealth Population Health Fellow, representing the School of Behavioral Health Sciences, where she continues to advance population-based approaches to improving child mental health.
Dr. Are’s scholarship has advanced the fields of child traumatic stress, implementation science, integrated behavioral health, and health equity. Through her research, clinical innovation, education, and community partnerships, she is committed to transforming the delivery of evidence-based mental health care by translating research into practice and expanding access to high-quality, trauma-informed services for all children and families.