Dana Prince, PhD, MPH | Source | Associate Professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case W...

Dana M. Prince, PhD, MPH (she/her) is an Associate Professor at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to joining the faculty, Dr. Prince completed her NIDA-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Prince applies her expertise in social welfare, public health, and community-based system dynamics to address the mental health and service needs of sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) involved in public systems, e.g. child welfare, juvenile court. Her work is grounded in an SGM affirming framework, which validates a wide range of SGM identities as normal and healthy and addresses the impact of SGM-based discrimination on SGMY development. Dr. Prince’s federally funded program of research aims to develop, implement, and evaluate multi-level interventions designed to target empirically based mechanisms (e.g. SGM-based stigma, rejection and abuse) that drive mental health disparities for SGMY in public systems, and build factors (e.g. peer support, SGM community belonging, chosen family/kin networks, and self-affirming beliefs) to promote wellness and empowerment. Dr. Prince is a queer femme who has advocated on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community for over twenty-five years. Across research, teaching, and service she strives to enact core principles of social justice, including the redistribution of resources, to advance equity and justice.