Katherine Sanchez, PhD, LCSW

Associate Investigator
Baylor Scott and White Research Institute, Center for Applied Health Research

Katherine Sanchez, PhD, LCSW is an Associate Investigator at Baylor Scott and White Research Institute, Center for Applied Health Research in Dallas, Texas. She also has an appointment as Adjunct Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW). Dr. Sanchez practiced as a bilingual clinical social worker for 15 years, primarily in medical settings with monolingual Spanish-speaking populations before getting her PhD. Her principal area of research is in integrated health care and the provision of socio-culturally, linguistically adapted models for the treatment of co-morbid mental and physical illness. Dr. Sanchez has developed a robust, well-defined research agenda and funding trajectory with a steady path to success, including federal grant funding from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Sanchez’s current NIMHD funded study (R15), METRIC: Measurement, Education and Tracking in Integrated Care: Strategies to Increase Patient Engagement and Reduce Mental Health Disparities among Hispanics, aims to advance the scientific knowledge around eliminating health disparities by testing a culturally and linguistically centered integrated care approach, and promoting sustainability of the model through peer services to expand the capacity of primary care. Through her recent transition from a traditional academic appointment to a research institute in the largest health care system in north Texas, Dr. Sanchez’s research agenda has segued from a focus on small scale interventions in primary care to advance the science around reducing disparities through efforts at the health delivery system level. In her new position, Dr. Sanchez hopes to understand system level efforts and opportunities to engage in implementation research which results in high impact, innovative strategies to address mental health disparities through the social determinants of health.