Dr. Enrico Castillo, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been named an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar by the National Academy of Medicine.
The Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine program recognizes early- to mid-career leaders, researchers and health care providers, providing unique opportunities to collaborate with the National Academy of Medicine and its members over a three-year period. Castillo is one of 10 members of the program’s 2025 class.
“This year has foregrounded to me the importance of science that speaks to the problems of our time,” Castillo said. “I feel deeply honored to be a part of the Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine program, to represent UCLA and to share my perspectives on the intersections among policy, practice, social medicine and health services research. I am grateful to UCLA and all of my mentors and colleagues for their support.”
“With their cross-cutting experiences, these exceptional leaders will be prepared to help catalyze transformative change, address our most urgent health challenges and advance health and well-being for individuals and communities,” National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau said of Castillo and the 2025 class.
Castillo is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the UCLA Center for Social Medicine and Humanities in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and a member of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. His research combines social medicine and health services research methods with the aim of improving the capacity of public systems to address the health and social needs of individuals with serious mental illness, specifically for incarcerated and homeless populations.
He is currently leading a National Institute of Mental Health-funded project on the jail-to-homelessness pipeline experienced by individuals with serious mental illness. He is a member of the California State Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health and was a member of the New Voices Initiative of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
