Dr. Watanabe-Galloway tapped for new role at BHECN

Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Ph.D., is joining the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) as research director, effective Aug. 15.

In her role with BHECN, Dr. Watanabe-Galloway will focus on strengthening BHECN’s workforce evaluation and reporting efforts to produce evidence-based practices. She also will collaborate with internal and external education partners, including the University of Michigan, to develop educational materials and conduct training with new and existing behavioral health providers.

“We are delighted to welcome Shinobu to the BHECN team,” said Howard Liu, M.D., director of BHECN. “Her scientific expertise and knowledge of workforce conditions in Nebraska will elevate BHECN’s research to the next level and help BHECN generate effective solutions for behavioral health workforce development.”

Dr. Watanabe-Galloway said she was “looking forward to collaborating with interdisciplinary partners on campus and beyond and helping BHECN become a national leader in behavioral health workforce research.”

Dr. Watanabe-Galloway, associate professor and vice chair of the department of epidemiology, College of Public Health, has been instrumental in publishing a semi-annual Nebraska Behavioral Health Workforce Analysis for BHECN over the past five years. This project uses data obtained from UNMC, the College of Public Health, and the Health Professions Tracking Service (HPTS) annual survey database for years 2000 to 2014.

With 88 of Nebraska’s 93 counties designated as mental health shortage areas by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, this report provides an updated, in-depth analysis of the current supply of licensed behavioral health professionals practicing in the state of Nebraska to guide the state’s behavioral health workforce planning efforts.

Through this partnership, BHECN and COPH also have developed the Nebraska Behavioral Health Workforce Dashboard, a tool designed to help policy makers, employers, and behavioral health care stakeholders understand the state of the behavioral health workforce and make decisions that impact its future.

“This is a great opportunity for the College of Public Health to continue its work with BHECN to address the mental health shortages in Nebraska and impact the behavioral health outcomes in the state,” said Jane Meza, Ph.D., senior associate dean and chair of the UNMC Department of Biostatistics in the College of Public Health.