From their unassuming lab in Hill Hall, an interdisciplinary Mizzou team is changing how youth receive mental health support.

In 2019, the Missouri Prevention Science Institute  (MPSI) launched the National Center for Rural School Mental Health with a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Modeled off an MPSI program still active in 54 Boone County schools, they are now implementing evidence-based interventions in 25 rural schools across Missouri, Montana and Virginia and will be adding more over the next two years.

MPSI’s experts in education, social work and psychology are prolific researchers. Last year alone, their team published 83 journal articles, logged 8,831 citations and managed more than ten additional local, state and national projects. I stopped by to learn more about the work they do.

Joined by John Middleton, associate vice president for academic affairs, and Chris Riley-Tillman, dean of the College of Education and Human Development, we discussed amplifying MPSI’s already impressive outreach and bringing more life-changing resources to schools in Missouri and around the country.

— Mun