Benjamin Le Cook, PhD

Benjamin Le Cook, PhD, is Director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research and Health Equity Research Lab at Cambridge Health Alliance, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. He holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard University and is a health services researcher focused on improving access and quality of treatment for individuals living with mental illness and/or substance use disorders. He also has a particular focus on improving methods of measuring and understanding underlying pathways of healthcare disparities, and applying these methods to analyses of national data sets and healthcare system electronic health records. He has been PI of NIH R03 and R01 studies, and is currently Principal Investigator of an AHRQ R01 grant identifying the diffusion of comparative effectiveness research across racial/ethnic minority populations and a PCORI methods grant to improve understanding of treatment preferences among racial/ethnic minorities with depression and diabetes. Other research interests include identifying effective strategies for integrating behavioral and primary health care, tobacco use and behavioral health, improving mental health of immigrant populations, substance abuse treatment disparities, and healthcare reform and equity. Dr. Cook assists with research training for Harvard Medical School psychiatry and psychology interns and fellows, and provides analysis support to Cambridge Health Alliance clinicians interested in pursuing quantitative research studies.