Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes, EdD, LPC's Linkedin Analytics

Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes, Ed.D., LPC, MCHES, NCC is a youth mental health + substance use prevention expert with experience in public schools, clinical settings, and research institutions. Previously, her work focused on a practitioner-based approach in health education, social and emotional learning (SEL), and school climate. She served as a former public school teacher, bilingual school counselor in New York City, and part of the founding leadership team of Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) Newark where she developed and oversaw student-centered policies, programs, and structures. She was also a project director at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence where she led the earlier stage of development for the inspirED Online Resource Center. Recognizing the impact and reach of evidence-informed, technology-based interventions to improve mental health and well-being in youth, she completed her postdoctoral studies in the design and evaluation of digital interventions at the Yale School of Medicine. Since her transition to a research career, she continues to apply a public health approach to reach more youth and to improve their mental health + well-being in schools. Currently, Dr. Fernandes is the Vice President of Research and Evaluation at Born This Way Foundation and an assistant clinical professor in the Child Study Center as well as an assistant professor adjunct in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at the Yale School of Medicine. Prior to Born This Way Foundation, she was an assistant professor of Medicine (General Medicine) at the Yale School of Medicine and a Yale Center for Clinical Investigation Scholar where she was funded by NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to lead her team in the development and evaluation of a digital game to prevent suicide among youth who misuse opioids. She aims to continue to use evidence-based research to inform federal-, state-, and local-level policies and to provide support to schools in their implementation efforts. Dr. Fernandes also practices as a licensed professional counselor, served on the Board of Directors for the CT Association of School-Based Health Centers (Treasurer) from 2019-2023, and currently serves on the Digital Well-Being Advisory Board for Peer Health Exchange. She is a 2024-2025 Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project in partnership with the Yale Women Faculty Forum.