Mary Katherine (Katie) Shires, LMSW, is a third year PhD student at the Brown School and a NIMH T32 Predoctoral Fellow. Katie received a BA and MSSW from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. After obtaining her MSSW, Katie worked in community mental health as a school-based therapist, providing mental health services to children and adolescents and working alongside families and educators to promote positive outcomes in students’ lives. Katie has also worked as a therapist for women in residential treatment with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.

As a doctoral student, Katie is interested in researching child and adolescent mental health interventions in rural settings. Through her research, Katie’s goal is to promote evidence-based services in school systems and community agencies to optimize care for children and families.