HOUSTON – (Jan. 8, 2024) – Luz Garcini, a Rice University expert who focuses on the psychological impacts of migration on refugees and immigrants, will be at the Texas-Mexico border this week with the American Psychological Association’s Presidential Task Force on Immigration.
“The record-breaking number of families seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border needs to be addressed to reduce risk and prevent further harm,” Garcini said. “Facilitating opportunities for dialogue to address the migrant crisis and devising prompt solutions for intervention and policy are crucial. The first step is to bear witness of what is happening by listening to the stories firsthand.”
Garcini is the interim director for community and public health at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, assistant professor of psychological sciences and faculty scholar for the Center for U.S. and Mexico at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Garcini’s research, community advocacy and policy work focuses on identifying, understanding and addressing the health needs of historically marginalized communities from a biobehavioral and sociocultural perspective. Using a socioecological approach and a social determinants of health lens, her interdisciplinary research is aimed at informing population health by identifying mechanisms of risk and resilience in the face of social disadvantage and life adversity.
To schedule an interview, contact Avery Franklin, media relations specialist, at averyrf@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.