Dr. Juan Pablo Zapata (he/him/él) is a clinical psychologist and the Associate Director of the Lab for Scalable Mental Health (LSMH). He also serves as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University and the Impact Institute. Dr. Zapata earned his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University in 2022, followed by a Doctoral Internship in Health Psychology at the University of Washington. He completed a T32 NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship in Translational Science, HIV, and Sexual and Gender Minority Health (T32MH130325), and is currently a fellow in the Implementation Research Institute (IRI) at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Zapata’s program of research focuses on adapting and scaling evidence-based mental health and HIV prevention interventions to reduce disparities among adolescents and young adults, particularly those who are Latino/a, LGBTQ+, or otherwise underserved. He brings methodological expertise in implementation science, with a focus on the efficient adaptation of interventions for digital and community settings. His work is grounded in cultural responsiveness and the lived experiences of youth navigating multiple systems and identities.
Currently, Dr. Zapata leads several projects through LSMH, including efforts to adapt digital single-session interventions (SSIs) for diverse settings. This includes innovations such as using code-switching to enhance the cultural resonance of interventions for bicultural youth and adapting safety planning content to better support gender-diverse adolescents. He also maintains a strong line of research focused on adapting multi-session interventions into scalable single-session formats for HIV prevention, an approach informed by a scoping review he led on integrating mental health and HIV outcomes within SSIs.