Research Focus
Dr. Micaela Mercado’s research examines how the broader social and environmental contexts in which services are delivered shape access, engagement, and ultimately health, mental health, and housing outcomes among structurally vulnerable populations. Her research focuses on three interconnected areas: (1) improving access to and engagement in health, mental health, and housing services; (2) examining contextual and culturally responsive implementation strategies that strengthen service delivery; and (3) identifying and addressing structural barriers to advance systems-level change.
Dr. Mercado’s interdisciplinary scholarship contributes to the fields of social work, public health, health services research, and implementation science. Grounded in community-based participatory research and implementation science methodologies, her work seeks to identify structural and contextual strategies for redesigning social environments and service delivery systems to better support individual well-being and improve system-level outcomes for structurally vulnerable populations, with a particular focus on communities in the Southwest United States.
About Dr. Micaela Mercado
Dr. Mercado served as the Director of Research at Zone 126 in Astoria, Queens, where she led the organization’s implementation of a cross-system data initiative modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone, a transformative collective impact approach. In 2013, she joined New York University as a Research Associate, focusing on translational research and implementation science. Later, Dr. Mercado was appointed Assistant Commissioner at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), overseeing several city-wide initiatives aimed at reducing mental health disparities. After her tenure at DOHMH, she joined Coordinated Behavioral Care, an independent practice association, where she led research efforts to test innovative programs and approaches to improve clinical outcomes for underserved populations.