César Escobar-Viera, MD, PhD
University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Escobar-Viera is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Program for Internet Delivered Interventions on LGBTQ+ Mental Health (PRIDE iM) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his medical education and psychiatry residency at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción in Paraguay, where he also practiced general psychiatry for ten years and served as medical director of the country’s only public psychiatric hospital. He earned his MPH and PhD in health services research from the University of Florida.
His research focuses on (1) understanding the role of social media use and experiences on mental health among queer youth and emerging adults, and (2) developing and testing digital mental health interventions to reduce depression risk among queer youth. He is the recipient of a NIMHD-funded Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) examining longitudinal associations between social media behaviors and depression among queer young adults. He is also Principal Investigator of a Pilot Award funded by the NIMH-supported ETUDES Center (P50) to develop and test the acceptability of a chatbot-based intervention to reduce loneliness and depression risk among rural queer youth.