Dr. Pateña is a global mental health practitioner and implementation researcher dedicated to narrowing the mental health treatment gap by scaling-up mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions. He has over 15 years of experience providing direct mental health care, conducting population mental health research, and implementing community-based mental health interventions for vulnerable populations in the United States and globally. Motivated by a passion for bridging the research-to-practice gap, he utilizes implementation science to advance evidence-based MHPSS solutions in low-resourced settings and drive systems-level change through adaptive leadership.
Dr. Pateña is currently the Director, U.S. Mental Health Programs at HealthRight International, a global health organization dedicated to ensuring equitable access to quality health systems for marginalized populations. In this role, he is building on HealthRight’s two decades of global mental health experience to implement an innovative, low-cost, and scalable stepped care model to mental health adapted for underserved populations in the United States. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at The City University of New York (CUNY) where he teaches courses in health education and public health studies.
Dr. Pateña also serves as an Associate Research Scientist with the Music and Audio Research Lab at NYU Steinhardt and as a Senior Research Associate with the ISEE Lab at NYU School of Global Public Health where he leads the development, implementation, and evaluation of music-based and task-sharing mental health interventions to reduce stigma and improve mental health outcomes among Sickle Cell Disease populations in Nigeria and Ghana. Dr. Pateña actively contributes to global mental health advocacy as a Public Mental Health Specialist with the World Federation of Public Health Associations and as Chief Operating Officer for Mental Health KAFE — a nonprofit organization committed to championing change in the mental health narrative and landscape in Africa.
Dr. Pateña brings a dual background in counseling psychology and public health, integrating clinical expertise with a prevention-oriented, community-centered approach. He was part of the inaugural Doctor of Public Health cohort at NYU School of Global Public Health (DrPH ’25), where his training focused on public health leadership and implementation science.
About Me
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Education
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) | New York University School of Global Public Health
MPH | Brown University School of Public Health
MA, Counseling Psychology | Boston College
BA, Psychology | Boston University-
Honors
Delta Omega: Honorary Society in Public Health (Delta Beta Chapter – New York University)
Psi Chi: International Honor Society in Psychology (Boston University Chapter)-
Selected Publications
Patena J, Elster L, Hameed T, Kulkarni S, Lai A, Sweetland A, Gyamfi J, Ojo T, Odoms-Young A, Royal C, Peprah E. Barriers and facilitators to implementing a task-sharing mental health intervention for Sickle Cell Disease populations in low- and middle-income countries: A qualitative analysis using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Front Mental Health. 2025 Jul 15; 13: 1607771. [DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1607771]
Patena J, Lai A, Sweetland A, Gyamfi G, Peprah E. A call to integrate mental health support into Sickle Cell Disease care: The value of task-sharing in low- and middle-income countries. PLOS Mental Health. 2025 Jul 3; 2(7): e0000360. [DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000360]
Patena J, Adenikinju D, Lanka P, Hameed T, Kulkarni S, Osei-Tutu N, Zuniga S, Ruan C, Shenoy S, Thakkar D, Noble E, Angulo B, Vieira D, Gyamfi J, Peprah E. Evaluating implementation research outcomes for a task-sharing mental health intervention: A systematic review of the Friendship Bench. Glob Ment Health (Camb). 2025 Jun 11; 12: e65. [DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2025.10025] [PMCID: PMC12231309]
Full list of publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4652-1712
