The Studies
The Community-Based Mental Health Research Focus Area at NEOMED is targeted toward improving the health and health care of a population of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. The common focus on community mental health builds on three interrelated domains of scientific inquiry:
- social factors that influence health;
- health services research, health outcomes, utilization and organization of care; and
- integration of primary and mental health care.
The key translational goal of our research is to improve health through the acquisition of new scientific knowledge.
The Statistics
79%
of Americans over the age of 12 suffer from the symptoms of moderate to severe depression.
50.5%
of adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance abuse disorder also had a co-occurring mental illness.
$193.2
billion dollars in lost earnings occur in America each year due to serious mental illness.

The Scientists
Our research focus area consists of a collaborative, trans-institutional, and interdisciplinary team of researchers who work with national experts in the area of community mental health. The team includes researchers in the fields of sociology, psychology, public health, psychiatry, family medicine and pharmacy at NEOMED and other universities in Northeast Ohio.
Research Collaborators
- Richard Adams, Ph.D., Kent State University
- Mary Gallagher, Ph.D., Kent State University
- Eric Jefferis, Ph.D., Kent State University
- Kristen Marcussen, Ph.D., Kent State University
- Elizabeth Piatt, Ph.D., Kent State University
The Stories
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As a second-year College of Medicine student, how do you choose a specialty when you’re torn between family medicine, psychiatry […]
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Just one person has worked in all three Centers of Excellence in Northeast Ohio Medical University’s Department of Psychiatry: Natalie […]
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As part of a mental health series titled “Navigating the Path to Mental Health,” Kent State University radio station WKSU […]
Contact
Christian Ritter, Ph.D.
Director, Community-Based Mental Health
Phone: 330.325.6165
Email: jritter@neomed.edu