Harry Adynski, PhD

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Systems at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. As a nurse scientist and board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse, my research centers on the social and biological drivers of mental health and well-being among minoritized youth and their families. My research program aims to generate evidence to develop and implement interventions that improve mental health outcomes and advance mental health equity.

Through a competitive NIH F31 predoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR; 1F31NR020138), my dissertation examined how early life stress and social adversity are related to emotional regulation and educational outcomes across early childhood. Following my PhD, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program (NCSP) at UCSF, an interdisciplinary program emphasizing community engagement, health policy, leadership, implementation science, and health equity. During this time, I earned a Certificate in Health Data Science from the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics. I also received an NIH Loan Repayment Program Pediatric Research Award (NINR; L40NR021315) to examine how maternal stress exposure relates to infant emotional regulation and telomere length using NICHD-funded data, advancing understanding of how early adversity can become biologically embedded.

In partnership with UCSF Oakland Benioff School-Based Health Clinics, I support the implementation and evaluation of the Youth Empowerment LGBTQIA+ Mental Health Drop-in Center initiative, funded by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative Grant (CYBHI). This work has been developed in partnership with youth, including the establishment of a youth advisory board and the training of peer wellness interns to co-facilitate the drop-in space, addressing the social, basic, and mental health needs of LGBTQIA+ youth in Oakland.

Through the NIH Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) Collaborative Training Program, I am developing interdisciplinary collaborations and technical expertise to integrate machine learning approaches into electronic health record based clinical research.

Across my scholarship, I examine how stress and structural determinants of health shape youth and family mental health across development, evaluate community- and school-based interventions for marginalized youth, and apply data-driven and implementation science approaches to translate evidence into practice and policy. I am committed to developing interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and international collaborations to advance this work and promote mental health equity.