Vasudha Gidugu
PhD
Dr. Vasudha Gidugu is a health services researcher specializing in mental health services and outcomes research. She earned her PhD in Health Services Research from Boston University in 2017, following Master of Arts degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling (University of Iowa, 2009) and Psychology (University of Delhi, 2004), and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Madras, in 2002.
Dr. Gidugu began her career in mental health and rehabilitation service delivery before transitioning into research. She held roles in research management at the Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, where she was appointed Research Scientist in 2017 and promoted to Senior Research Scientist in 2019. From 2021 to 2022, she served as the Health Policy Research and Program Director at the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation in Boston, MA. In September 2023, Dr. Gidugu joined the SickKids Centre for Community Mental Health (CCMH) as a Research Scientist.
Prior to her current position, Dr. Gidugu's research focused on effectiveness research and implementation science aimed at improving quality of life outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness and other psychiatric conditions. She collaborated with community mental health programs across the United States on projects to enhance health, vocational, and social outcomes for adults with serious mental illness, as well as youth and young adults experiencing early psychosis. She served as a co-investigator and project director on numerous externally funded research grants in these areas. Additionally, she led policy research and stakeholder engagement projects to inform the adoption of and equitable access to innovations in healthcare, with an emphasis on mental health, integrated behavioral healthcare, and digital health.
As a Research Scientist at CCMH, Dr. Gidugu’s focus is on research and evaluation to identify effective treatments and promote equitable approaches to meeting the mental health needs of the diverse children, youth, and families served by CCMH, as well as within the broader child and youth mental health sector.