Flavio F. Marsiglia is a Regents Professor at the School of Social Work in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. He is the founder and director of the Global Center for Applied Health Research which conducts intervention health research in partnership with universities and communities in Burundi, China, Guatemala, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and Uruguay. In the wake of the pandemic, Marsiglia played an integral role as principal investigator on a multiagency project funded by the National Institutes of Health, selecting 22 communities in vulnerable populations to receive free COVID-19 testing and setting the stage for these underserved communities to receive the vaccine. 

Marsiglia’s research on cultural diversity and youth substance use is widely recognized, highly influential in the prevention field and credited with a measurable reduction in drug use and other high-risk behaviors among youth in Arizona, across the U.S. and in other countries. He has developed and tested culturally grounded interventions to prevent substance abuse, especially among Latino and other minority populations of the Southwest, including the school-based Keepin' it REAL — an adolescent drug prevention program designated among the Top 100 in the MacArthur Foundation’s 100 & Change competition.

Marsiglia has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles that have significantly advanced knowledge about Latino adolescent risk and protective factors, and the relationship between acculturation, health and mental health. He co-authored the widely adopted Oxford University Press’ textbook “Diversity, Oppression and Change: Culturally Grounded Social Work” and has received numerous accolades, including the 2018 Society for Prevention Research International Research Collaboration Award, a 2018 Fulbright Specialist Fellowship in Seville-Spain and the 2018 Life Achievement Award for contributions to health and mental health research and practice from the National Association of Social Workers Foundation. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.