Francisco Calderón Alfaro

I am an Academic Associate in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where I work on the PsySTART project, which aims to advance the uptale and implementation of a disaster mental health triage system. I am also an Associate Member of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford, where I co-lead the Global Parenting Data Pooling Consortium, a collaboration among 17 universities working to improve parenting interventions worldwide.

My research focuses on understanding why psychosocial interventions produce different outcomes for different individuals. Through a longitudinal lens, I investigate who benefits most from interventions, whose outcomes may worsen, why interventions work for some individuals but not others, and how implementation can be adapted to the needs of diverse contexts and service providers. I am particularly interested in identifying which individuals are most likely to benefit from specific interventions, delivery modalities, and outcomes, with the goal of improving the effectiveness and equity of psychosocial interventions.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Universidad Centroamericana ‘José Simeón Cañas’ and an MSc in Psychological Research from the University of Edinburgh. I earned my PhD from the University of Oxford, where I completed my DPhil in Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation. Previously, I worked as a Data Manager for the Global Parenting Initiative at the University of Oxford, supporting parenting intervention research across multiple countries, including Jamaica, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

I have spent over a decade conducting research focused on preventing violence and improving the mental health and well-being of children, adolescents, and young people.

I believe that research should empower those whose voices are often unheard.

You can find me on LinkedIn and Google Scholar.