University at Buffalo Nursing Professor Recognized for Work in Mental Health and Addictions

Yu-Ping Chang, PhD, associate professor and associate dean for research and scholarship in the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Nursing, was recently named the first School of Nursing Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Professor for her influential work in mental health and addictions.

The Patricia H. Garman Behavioral Health Nursing Endowment Fund Professorship was established to attract and retain the best and brightest nursing faculty, enhance research endeavors, and help the school to realize its vision. Dr. Chang is well known for her widely published and funded research in the areas of mental health, prescription drug misuse, and addictions in older adults.

Marsha Lewis, PhD, professor and dean of the UB School of Nursing, tells Buffalo.edu, “[Dr. Chang’s] scholarship focuses on mental health and addiction; this is particularly relevant to honor Patricia Garman’s career as a psychiatric nurse. Dr. Chang is passionate about issues related to mental health and has proven to be an excellent researcher and outstanding mentor to our tenure-track faculty in helping them develop their research agendas.”

Dr. Chang was recently awarded $1 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to increase access to mental health care and substance abuse treatment among American Indian communities in Western New York through clinical training for graduate students in the UB Schools of Nursing and Social Work.

Dr. Chang is also a fellow of the Health Sciences Section of the Gerontological Society of America. She holds a doctorate in nursing degree from Saint Louis University, and a master’s degree in psychiatric and mental health nursing and bachelor’s degree in nursing from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan.