Colette Auerswald

Colette Auerswald is a Clinical Professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and holds academic positions at both the Berkeley and San Francisco campuses of the University of California. A pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine, she co-founded and co-directs Innovations for Youth (i4Y) and leads the Ending Youth Homelessness Catalyst Group, focusing on structural interventions to improve the health of marginalized youth through community collaboration and youth engagement.

Education:

• Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
• Residency in Primary Care Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco Department of Pediatrics (1995)
• MD, University of California, San Francisco (1992)
• BA in Social Studies, Harvard University (1985)

Research Interests center on the social determinants of health for disadvantaged youth, particularly those experiencing homelessness, low-income youth of color, and LGBTQ youth. Her work integrates mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, examines stigma, and emphasizes youth participatory action research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she highlighted the exacerbated vulnerabilities of unhoused youth, including poverty, disrupted education, and limited access to sanitation and healthcare.

Scientific Leadership includes directing the MS Program in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program and spearheading initiatives such as the Ending Youth Homelessness Catalyst Group (2017–present). Her advocacy addresses systemic barriers like criminalization of homelessness and inadequate shelter resources, particularly for LGBTQI youth. Collaborations with student teams like Youth and Allies Against Homelessness (YAAH) integrate lived experiences into research and policy solutions.