Faculty Spotlight: Luz Lopez (Clinical Associate Professor)

Luz Marilis López, Ph.D., MPH, MSW, is a Clinical Associate Professor at Boston University School of Social Work. Dr. Lopez’s research focuses on substance abuse and HIV prevention with Latinos and other diverse groups. Dr. Lopez’s practice focuses on group work that provides evidenced based intervention for people dealing with trauma and addiction recovery. Luz works in collaboration with two local substance abuse programs – Casa Esperanza, a Boston based program, and Tapestry Health, based in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Professor Lopez also developed and leads an annual summer cultural immersion travel program to Puerto Rico, where Boston University graduate students gain exposure to Puerto Rican culture, public health social work practice, and community participatory research with homeless substance users. Bilingual graduate students serve as research assistants and play a key role in conducting in-person interviews, and data collection and analysis. The goal is to compare substance abuse patterns between Puerto Ricans residing in Puerto Rico and those residing in Massachusetts. Graduate students hope to contribute to increased access to health care, and developing culturally appropriate HIV and addiction intervention programs for the homeless.