Christina P. Borba, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry

Biography
Christina P.C. Borba, PhD, MPH is Director of Research for the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center. Until 2016, she was the Director of Research at the MGH Division of Global Psychiatry. She is an Assistant in Psychology (Psychiatry) at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Research at MGH.
Dr. Borba has extensive experience in mixed methods research, teaching and training, and development and management of randomized clinical trials. Dr. Borba’s current research focuses on psychotic disorders and cultural psychiatry in low-resourced settings in the US and abroad, women’s mental health, and gender differences in care.
Dr. Borba is currently examining socio-cultural aspects of schizophrenia in Ethiopia with a goal of understanding why the disease prevalence ratio has been found to be 5:1 male to female (a statistic unlike any other in the world). She is also involved in ongoing efforts in Liberia to increase local research capacity with the University of Liberia, and to identify and conduct priority mental health-related research with in-country academic leaders. In her role as Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center and Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Dr. Borba works to expand departmental research capacity through research education initiatives for residents and medical students, mentorship of junior faculty, new faculty recruitment and the expansion of research infrastructure capacity within the department. She supervises and provides research-related trainings for all research teams within the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Borba has co-published several peer-reviewed articles and first authored two book chapters. She is the recipient of the New Clinical Drug Evaluation New Investigator Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. She received her doctorate in public health from Emory University and her master’s degree in public health from Boston University. She has lectured on qualitative methods and has taught masters-level courses at Emory on research methods and statistical analysis in the field of behavioral sciences. Prior to her doctorate, Dr. Borba managed the efforts of a cross-functional research team including research coordinators, student interns and fellows, while being responsible for the management of several clinical randomized control trials.
Websites
Education
- Emory University, PhD
- Boston University School of Public Health, MPH
- Northeastern University, BA
Publications
- Published on 6/6/2024
Becene I, Shah A, Nguyen K, West M, Berrill J, Stuart J, Borba C, Rich-Edwards J. In their own words: a qualitative survey of healthcare providers' experiences with personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ann Work Expo Health. 2024 Jun 06; 68(5):535-549. PMID: 38629849.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/1/2024
Owusu MB, Ogundare T, Ghebrehiwet S, Sharma M, Henderson MC, Durham MP, Borba CPC, Ojediran B, Henderson DC, Harris BL. Curriculum development in Liberia's first postgraduate psychiatry training programme. BJPsych Int. 2024 May; 21(2):40-43. PMID: 38693958.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/1/2024
Pearson JL, Borba CPC. New Research Efforts and Approaches Are Needed to Change the Current Youth Suicide Risk Trends Among Health Disparity Groups. Am J Public Health. 2024 Mar; 114(S3):S246-S249. PMID: 38537166.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/23/2024
Barksdale CL, Hill LD, Jean-Francois B, Maholmes V, Friedman-Hill SR, Parsafar P, Quartey-Ampofo PM, Freeman RC, Willis V, Deeds B, Borba CPC. A National Institutes of Health Approach for Advancing Research to Improve Youth Mental Health and Reduce Disparities. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 May; 63(5):490-499. PMID: 38272351.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/20/2023
Sharma M, Backman A, Vesga-Lopez O, Zayas L, Harris B, Henderson DC, Koenen KC, Williams DR, Borba CPC. Trauma, risk, and resilience: A qualitative study of mental health in post-conflict Liberia. Transcult Psychiatry. 2024 Aug; 61(4):652-667. PMID: 37731360.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/1/2023
Ghebrehiwet S, Ogundare T, Owusu M, Harris BL, Ojediran B, Touma M, Durham MP, Hook K, Borba CPC, Henderson DC. Building a postgraduate psychiatry training program in Liberia through cross-country collaborations: initiation stages, challenges, and opportunities. Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1020723. PMID: 37727607.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/5/2023
Nguyen KTNH, Stuart JJ, Shah AH, Becene IA, West MG, Berrill J, Gelaye B, Borba CPC, Rich-Edwards JW. Novel Methods for Leveraging Large Cohort Studies for Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research. Am J Epidemiol. 2023 May 05; 192(5):821-829. PMID: 36790786.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/6/2023
Freitag GF, Salem H, Conroy K, Busto C, Adrian M, Borba CPC, Brandt A, Chu PV, Dantowitz A, Farley AM, Fortuna L, Furr JM, Lejeune J, Miller L, Platt R, Porche M, Read KL, Rivero-Conil S, Hernandez RDS, Shumway P, Sikov J, Spencer A, Syeda H, McLellan LF, Rapee RM, McMakin D, Pincus DB, Comer JS. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatric and parent-proxy short forms for anxiety: Psychometric properties in the Kids FACE FEARS sample. J Anxiety Disord. 2023 Mar; 94:102677. PMID: 36773484.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/1/2023
Rudolph KA, Stewart M, Borba CPC. "Shelter is Stressing Me Out": Challenges Meeting Health Care Needs of Older Adults in Congregate Shelters. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2023; 34(3):1003-1020. PMID: 38015134.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/27/2022
Choi J, Juntunen A, Brewer H, Abbas D, Sopper C, Bielick L, Ghebrehiwet S, Flinton K, Sarfaty S, Jacquet GA, Crosby S, Piwowarczyk L, Oleng N, Borba CPC. Evaluating an Interprofessional Trauma-Based Education Course to Advance the Care and Health of Refugees. J Immigr Minor Health. 2023 Oct; 25(5):1043-1049. PMID: 36574112.
Read at: PubMed
View 111 more publications: View full profile at BUMC