Brian TaeHyuk Keum, PhD, MA
Biography
Brian TaeHyuk Keum’s main research programs focus on (a) mitigating mental health (e.g., depression, loneliness, trauma) and behavioral (e.g., problematic substance use, suicide risk) costs of online violence and discrimination (e.g., online racism, online gendered racism, online heterosexism) among racially/ethnically minoritized adolescents and young adults, and (b) critical intersectional exploration of mental health, socialization (gendered racism, gendered racial socialization), and flourishing (affirmative socialization) among Asian Americans. He is a Principal Investigator on a NIMH Small Technology Transfer Grant, collaborating with an AI-driven culturally-sensitive digital mental health platform (Anise Health Inc.) to improve mental health services for Asian American individuals, and a Co-Principal Investigator on a Standard Research Grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, examining culturally-informed risk and protective factors among suicide bereaved Asian American families. Secondarily, he also examines disparities in mental health services and clinician training, culturally-congruent and culturally-informed psychological measure development/evaluation, and promotion of cross-racial solidarity and community resilience. Across these areas, he has published widely in leading social sciences and medical journals.
Numerous grants and fellowships have supported his work, including from the National Institute of Mental Health, California’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the American Psychological Foundation, Mental Health Institute, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Given the interdisciplinary nature, his work has been recognized by various national organizations, including the Rising Star Award by the National Multicultural Conference Summit and early career awards from multiple divisions of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 17, 45, 46, 49, 51). Various national media outlets such as The Washington Post, LA Times, CEOMOM, VICE, Kaiser Health, MedicalXpress, USA Today, NBC News, ABC30, and NPR subsidiaries have covered his work.
He is an Acting Associate Professor in the Community Health Sciences Division at the University of California, Berkeley. Before UC Berkeley, he was the Buehler Sesquicentennial Endowed Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, at Boston College, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Welfare at UCLA. He earned his PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Maryland-College Park.
Research Interests
- Social media and mental health
- Online violence and discrimination
- Racism
- Intersectionality
- Racial/ethnic socialization
- Social determinants of mental and behavioral health disparities
- Disparities in mental and behavioral health services
- Empowerment and flourishing
- Cross-racial solidarity
- Structural equation modeling
- Psychometrics
- Qualitative methods
Education
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PhD – Counseling Psychology
University of Maryland, College Park, 2020 -
MA – Counseling Psychology
Columbia University, 2014 -
BS – Psychology
University of British Columbia, 2012 -
BS – Anatomy and Cell Biology
McGill University, 2008