The Value of Mentoring: Daniel Jimenez, Ph.D., Named President of American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry
The Miller School associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences will promote early-career Latino researcher mentorship as a pillar of his presidency platform.
The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Daniel Jimenez, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has been named the next president of the American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry (ASHP).
Dr. Jimenez’ two-year term starts in May 2026, when he succeeds Pamela Montano Arteaga, M.D., a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It’s humbling,” Dr. Jimenez said. “The past presidents are very well known in their fields. I never really considered myself to be in that sphere. To be recognized as such by my peers is incredibly satisfying, but humbling, as well.”
Eliminating Health Disparities
ASHP promotes mental health research, professional education and clinical activities amongst Hispanic mental health professionals in the United States, Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. The organization works closely with Latino-focused organizations to advocate for scientifically grounded policies that eliminate health disparities prevalent in Latino and other minoritized populations.
ASHP’s mission dovetails nicely with the trajectory of Dr. Jimenez’ career. A Barry Lebowitz Early Career Scientist Award winner and Gerontological Society of America fellow, Dr. Jimenez has devoted his career to developing innovative strategies to reduce and eliminate mental health disparities affecting the nation’s older people of color.
I wouldn’t have the career I’ve had thus far without the mentoring I received.
—Dr. Daniel Jimenez
His own upbringing taught Dr. Jimenez early lessons in the mental health challenges of adult immigrants. The son of Cuban immigrants, Dr. Jimenez witnessed firsthand the toll exacted on parents who chose to live in a foreign culture.
“For Latinos, migration has had a devastating effect on their social fabric,” he said in a 2020 article published by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. “The disruption of family structure can lead to poor mental health. Therefore, effective approaches to reducing the burden of mental illness affecting older Latinos – and ultimately eliminating mental health disparities – are likely to involve non-traditional methods that are culturally acceptable and scalable.”
Studying Depression and Anxiety in Older Latino Adults
Dr. Jimenez designed the Happy Older Latinos are Active (HOLA) health promotion and prevention study to investigate if regular exercise, “pleasant events” scheduling and social learning theory principles could prevent depression and anxiety in older Latino adults. The study used community health workers to lead participants in group walks.
The HOLA pilot study “produced very positive results,” Dr. Jimenez said. “Compared to the control group, participants in HOLA had a 50% reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms. And we got very good feedback about how important the interactions with the community health workers were.”
That pilot success led to NIH support for a much larger study that is underway now.
Dr. Jimenez’s goals for his ASHP presidency are drawn from his personal experience as an aspiring psychologist. As he worked his way through graduate school, he noticed something about his peers and instructors.
“In academia, very few people look like me and talk like me,” Dr. Jimenez said. “Less than 5% of psychiatrists and psychologists in academia are Latino. Twenty percent of the population is Latino, so that’s a huge gap.”
Mentoring Early-career Latino Researchers
As a young researcher, Dr. Jimenez was lucky enough to find great mentors whom he credits with helping shape his career.
“I wouldn’t have the career I’ve had thus far without the mentoring I received,” Dr. Jimenez said, and he hopes to use the ASHP’s reach to offer similar assistance to early-career Latino researchers. “What the presidency does, first and foremost, is give me the legitimacy to attract younger faculty.”
One of the biggest challenges for those young faculty members is funding. As president, Dr. Jimenez’s name will carry extra weight on a grant application.
“Having the ability to write grants as the president of the society lends the application a definite credence,” he said.
Grants lead to groundbreaking research, and research to the evolution of treatment doctrine. If Latino representation in the behavioral sciences increases, as Dr. Jimenez envisions, a crucial element of care will carry the necessary cultural competence.
“We know that most psychiatrists and psychologists work with patients who are their own ethnicity or race,” Dr. Jimenez explained. “It’s not to say that someone who isn’t Latino can’t work with a Latino patient or do Latino research. But it’s important to have an understanding of the nuances of the culture to do that work.”
Tags: Dr. Daniel E. Jimenez, mentoring, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences