Professor

​

UCLA School of Nursing

MarySue V. Heilemann, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor at the UCLA School of Nursing and an Associate Program Director at the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and her PhD and postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF, further specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at the Beck Institute (NINR K23 award) with a special focus on resilience and motivation. Driven by a commitment to interventions informed by lived experiences, MarySue has extensively researched what US Latinas find relevant and trustworthy when confronting stigma and barriers to mental health care. Recognizing the power of discreet smartphone access and high demand for story-based media among Latinas, she developed a collaborative methodology for intervention development using transmedia storytelling. MarySue and her team developed an interactive, scalable web-based app using transmedia in English and Spanish which led to her speaking as a delegate at the United Nations-Commission on the Status of Women in 2018. Currently, MarySue is the Principal Investigator of a 5-year NIMH-funded R01 for an RCT to test the ability of the transmedia intervention to catalyze shifts in attitudes, stigma, and symptoms while boosting help-seeking among symptomatic Latinas struggling with untreated depression or anxiety. Rigorously tested, Hollywood-quality videos featuring evidence-informed, relatable Latina characters and a culturally relevant storyline were designed in collaboration with and for Latinas of the target group. Drawing on this work, MarySue has mentored dozens of community partners, graduate students, postdocs, and faculty colleagues in the US and internationally, in evidence-driven media interventions and rigorous qualitative research to access deep understanding and build trust.