Massachusetts General Hospital | Psychiatry

Biography

Nhi-Ha Trinh MD MPH is a staff research psychiatrist at the MGH Depression Clinical Research Program. Her work involves disparities in depression care for minorities, issues of cultural competency in mental health, social determinants of mental health, and geriatric psychiatry. Dr. Trinh earned her MD at the University of California, San Francisco, and her MPH at the University of California at Berkeley, specializing in Epidemiology.

Research

Dr. Trinh's research activities focus on cross-cultural psychiatry, disparities in minorities, and social determinants contributing to the risk and outcome of Major Depressive Disorder. As a clinician, she is committed to educating others about the importance of culture in the assessment and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Since 2007, as director of the required sociocultural didactic seminar series for the third-year MGH psychiatry residents, Dr. Trinh teaches junior colleagues how to conduct a thorough cultural assessment with their patients. Dr. Trinh is co-principal investigator for a project entitled the [Culturally Focused Psychiatric (CFP) Consultation Service for Asian American and Latino American Primary Care Patients with Depression at MGH; this is a two-year project funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Chang? Program (2009-2011). She is currently also collaborating with other Harvard researchers on the Stirling County Study, a seminal longitudinal study in psychiatric epidemiology as well as on a retrospective study of rehabilitation, psychiatric, and occupational outcomes of the victims of the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire.

Publications

Trinh N et al (2003). Efficacy of Cholinesterase Inhibitors in the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Functional Impairment in Alzheimer's Disease. JAMA; 289 (2): 210-216.

Trinh NH et al (2008). Ethics consultation to PACT teams: balancing client autonomy and clinical necessity. Harvard Review of Psychiatry; 16(6): 365-72.4.

Trinh NH et al, eds (2009). Handbook of Mental Health and Acculturation in Asian American Families. Humana Press: New York, NY.

Trinh NH et al. Examining the Role of Race and Ethnicity in Relapse Rates of Major Depressive Disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry (in press).