Dr. Frank Puga is an assistant professor in the Department of Acute, Chronic, and Continuing Care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing. He is a Hispanic scientist with a background in psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and aging health disparities. Dr. Puga received his Ph.D. in psychology with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience from the University of Texas at Austin. His research program focuses on the stress and mental health profiles of older adults living with chronic illness and their care partners. Much of his work focuses on minoritized populations disproportionately impacted by dementia and cancer, including Hispanics and LGBTQ+ individuals who also experience high rates of minority stress and poor mental health.
Dr. Puga recently completed a diversity supplement from the National Institute of Aging that examined relationships between contextual factors, such as caregiving stress and available social support, and psychological distress that care partners experience on a given day. Dr. Puga also has a recent R01 grant from the National Institute of Aging, examining stress, resilience, cultural factors, and daily and long-term mental health patterns among Hispanic dementia caregivers. His primary outcomes of interest are anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. The main goal of Dr. Puga’s work is to understand which individuals, under what circumstances, are more likely to shift from mild psychological distress to severe psychopathology. Ultimately this work will inform the development of resilience-based interventions that are culturally responsive and tailored to the unique needs of individuals living with chronic illness and their care partners.
