Biography

Dr. Charmaine Higa-McMillan is an Associate Professor of Psychology and an Affiliate Faculty Member in the Center for Rural Health Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Dr. Higa-McMillan is also the Director of the BEST (Bridging Evidence and Services Together) for Keiki Program, which examines ways to build better bridges between science and practice in youth mental health. She received her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1999 and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tulsa in 2004. Dr. Higa-McMillan is licensed to practice as a psychologist in the State of Hawaii. Dr. Higa-McMillan has 40 peer-reviewed scientific reports, book chapters, and technical reports. She also has close to 20 empirical papers under review or in progress and has presented more than 60 times at national and international conferences. In addition to having a very active research lab, Dr. Higa-McMillan is dedicated to mentoring student research – nearly half of her presentations and a third of her peer-reviewed publications have included students as first or co-authors.