Bowen Chung

Bowen Chung is a Professor-in-residence in Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Health Policy and Management at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. With dual appointments spanning clinical and policy domains, Dr. Chung has established himself as a leader in community-engaged mental health research focused on addressing disparities in depression care for underserved populations.

Dr. Chung's educational background includes a BA in English Literature from Williams College (1993), an MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine (1998), General Psychiatry Residency at UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital/West Los Angeles VA (2001), Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at UCLA (2003), and specialized training through the UCLA/RAND Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program (2005), an MSHS in Health Services from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (2005), and a Health Services Research Post-doctoral fellowship (2008).

His research program centers on community-partnered participatory research methodologies to improve mental health services, particularly focusing on depression care for minority and underserved populations. Dr. Chung has been instrumental in the Community Partners in Care (CPIC) initiative, a landmark study comparing community engagement approaches versus technical assistance models for depression care improvement. His work examines implementation science, community engagement strategies, and innovative approaches to reduce mental health stigma through arts-based interventions and other creative modalities.

His publication record demonstrates expertise across mental health services research, with recent work emphasizing LGBTQ mental health, resilience against depression disparities, and community-based solutions for substance use and depression comorbidity. Dr. Chung's research consistently applies community-engaged frameworks to ensure relevance and impact in real-world settings.

• Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 2018 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, Department of Psychiatry
• Harbor-UCLA Medical Center 2017 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, Department of Psychiatry
• Los Angeles Business Journal Healthcare 2016 Outreach Program of the Year
• UCLA 2015 Landmark Program of the Year
• Community-Campus Partnerships 2015 Health Annual Award
• UCLA 2015 Helping U Help the Community Award Winner
• Association for Clinical and Translational Science and American Federation for Medical Research, 2014 Joint Team Science Award
• UCLA 2002 Outstanding Teaching Fellow Award, Department of Psychiatry

Dr. Chung has secured significant funding for community-engaged research projects focused on improving depression care through authentic community partnerships. His work with the Resilience Against Depression Disparities (RADD) study represents an important contribution to addressing mental health needs among low-income, racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minorities. He has also contributed to developing frameworks for ethical community-partnered research in post-disaster situations and has explored innovative methods for engaging communities through arts and storytelling.

Through his leadership in community-academic partnerships, Dr. Chung has helped establish practical models for implementing community engagement as a core mission of academic medicine, with numerous publications on the subject. His commitment to health equity and community partnership continues to shape mental health services research and practice.