Lisa de Saxe Zerden, PhD, MSW

Lisa de Saxe Zerden is currently the Senior Associate Dean for MSW Education at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Social Work. Dr. Zerden received her PhD in Sociology and Social Work from Boston University School of Social Work and her MSW from UCLA. Currently, she serves as the P.I. of a three-year, $1.4 million Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) grant to expand the behavioral health workforce in integrated care. She is also a collaborating faculty member for the HRSA funded Leadership in Public Health Social Work grant for dual MSW/MPH students. Her research interests remain consistently focused on health disparities in drug use and treatment and overdose prevention, HIV/AIDS, and the role of social workers in healthcare. Dr. Zerden currently serves as the vice president on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, the Political Action Committee for NASW-NC, and co-leads the Associate Dean’s Group through CSWE. She has won numerous teaching awards since joining the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill including “most outstanding” “most supportive” and “most inspiring” faculty member.