Chandra Donnell Carey, an associate professor of rehabilitation and health services in the College of Health and Public Service has been tapped to serve as the inaugural Vice President for Research Faculty Fellow. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wittenberg University, a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a doctoral degree in rehabilitation counselor education from Michigan State University. She has been at UNT since 2009 and currently serves as academic associate dean for the College of Health and Public Service.

“It’s such an honor to be named as the inaugural faculty fellow. To be a social scientist and to be included is quite the honor and really aligns with the interdisciplinary landscape of high impact research today,” Carey says. “Having the voice of a social scientist will hopefully broaden that lens at UNT, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to bring that perspective and further embed that collaborative spirit into the university’s research agenda.”

Carey’s research focuses on access and utilization of mental health services for underserved populations and led to her initiating UNT’s Center for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Health and Society. CREEHS seeks to increase the quality of life for all Texans and to foster an environment for economic growth and innovation by narrowing longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in health care. 

Carey is one of four co-PIs from UNT who were recently awarded a $1.5M grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration to investigate how to expand a bilingual trauma-based behavioral health workforce in integrated health settings.

“Having the exposure to the different areas that encompass research administration will increase the research literacy of our faculty and really help so many with that process,” Carey says. “I really hope to glean and soak up as much as I can from the experts in the office during this experience over this next year and take it back to the faculty I work with.”