Concepcion Barrio has a national reputation in mental health services research, particularly the interaction of ethnicity and effective mental health services. Barrio brings over twenty years of clinical experience with multicultural populations to her research focus on ethnocultural factors in serious mental illness and the cultural relevance of psychosocial services, particularly for Latinx families.

Since 1997, she has been the principal investigator on four National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grants including a research study on the development of a culturally-based family intervention for Mexican-Americans dealing with schizophrenia. She served as Co-PI of an NIMH-R01study focused on improvement of the informed consent process for Latinx with schizophrenia, addressing the underrepresentation of Latinx in mental health and other biomedical research. Her research contributions examine key aspects of ethnic disparities in health and mental health services for Latinx and other underserved and underresearched populations dealing with serious mental illness and co-morbid conditions.

Barrio joined the USC Social Work faculty in 2006 after serving as associate professor in the School of Social Work at San Diego State University, and co-investigator at two research centers funded by NIMH: Child and Adolescent Services Center and Advanced Center for Interventions and Services Research (ACISR) at the University of California, San Diego. She served as the principal investigator of the Latino Studies Unit at the ACISR and continues to maintain research collaborations at that center.

She has served as a standing member on the Services Research Scientific Merit Review Committee at the NIMH, and as an invited member of this Review Committee and other NIMH and NIH Review Panels. Barrio also serves as reviewer for numerous interdisciplinary scientific journals in social work, psychiatry, psychology, public health, anthropology, cultural diversity and mental health services.

Barrio’s extensive clinical practice and research experience informs her teaching expertise in the area of advanced clinical practice in mental health settings and psychopathology and the diagnosis of mental disorders. She is a licensed clinical social worker in California, and as a clinician-researcher provides consultation services to community based organizations and advisory boards.

To reference the work of Concepcion Barrio online, we ask that you directly quote their work where possible and attribute it to "Concepcion Barrio, faculty at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work” (LINK: https://dworakpeck.usc.edu)