Early Career Contributions to Diversity Science Award Winner: Roberto Luis Abreu, PhD

Early Career Contributions to Diversity Science Award Winner: Roberto Luis Abreu, PhD

The SCCAP Early Career Contributions to Diversity Science Award is intended to recognize an early career psychologist who has established a program of empirical research that has had a major scientific and/or public impact on the field’s understanding on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

This year we are thrilled to announce Roberto Luis Abreu, PhD, as the recipient of the 2025 SCCAP Early Career Contributions to Diversity Science Award. Dr. Abreu is the Colonel Allen R. and Margaret G. Crow Term Professor and an Associate Professor at the University of Florida (UF) in the Department of Psychology, where they lead the Collective Healing and Empowering VoicEs through Research and Engagement (¡Chévere!) Lab. Dr. Abreu completed their Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Kentucky and doctoral internship at the Federal Medical Center – Lexington.

Dr. Abreu has made exceptional scientific contributions to the understanding of how systemic and structural barriers impact the mental health of Latinx lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth and their families. Their research also investigates protective factors that can buffer against these risks. Although they are still early in their career, Dr. Abreu has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles and leads innovative, externally-funded research projects. Their work is done in collaboration with local and national community partners with a shared goal to uplift the voices of diverse youth.

As part of this award, Dr. Abreu received a $3,000 honorarium to travel to the SCCAP Conference in Chicago, Illinois and provided a talk on their groundbreaking and inspiring work. Please join us in recognizing Dr. Abreu as the 2025 Early Career Contributions to Diversity Science Award recipient!