Awarded by the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) to the University of Connecticut Immigration Detention Service Project that I co-organized  for outstanding pro bono service to immigrants in detention.

2017 Light of Liberty Award

Editorial Advisory Board, Torture Journal (2016-present)

Co-Chair Research & Data Project, National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs (2008-present)

Subject Matter Expert (appointed), International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) Data and Research Methods Reference Group (2018-2021).

Remote Peer Learning Between US and Cambodian Lay Health Workers to Improve Outcomes for Cambodians with Type 2 Diabetes: a Pilot Study

The complex care of a torture survivor in the United States

Integrated health care and mHealth: A model of care for refugees with complex health conditions.

Socially Isolated Cambodians in the US

Social Disconnection as a Risk Factor for Health among Cambodian Refugees and Their Offspring in the United States

The HTQ-5: Revision of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire for measuring torture, trauma and DSM-5 PTSD symptoms in refugee populations.

Working With Refugees in the U.S.: Trauma-Informed and Structurally Competent Social Work Approaches

This volume brings together a host of scholars to address curriculum development and teaching methodologies for integrating human rights into social work education. Contributors discuss the theoretical framework and practical applications of the human rights approach in the areas of diverse human rights orientations to curriculum development; policy, research, and social justice; travel study and exchange models; and special populations. The authors press readers to address not only the human rights violations reported widely in the media, but also more familiar issues such as child welfare, poverty, food insecurity, racism, and violence against women. In addition, readers will find ideas for course design and teaching strategies and ample reference material, such as specialized treaties of specific relevance to social work, country and shadow reports, and complaint mechanisms. This book illustrates how the powerful idea of human rights can inform and transform social work education, and ultimately, professional practice.

Advancing Human Rights in Social Work Education

The University of Connecticut (UConn) is one of America’s top 20 public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. It is home to more than 31,000 students, 1,300 faculty, 230,000 proud alumni, and a handsome husky named Jonathan.

The University has fourteen schools and colleges: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Business, Dental Medicine, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Law, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Work. Students can choose from eight undergraduate bachelor's degrees with 102 possible majors, as well as seventeen graduate/doctoral degrees and five professional degree programs (MD, JD, etc.).

UConn's main campus in Storrs is admitting the highest-achieving freshmen in University history. Student diversity continues to increase, as does the number of honors students, valedictorians and salutatorians who consistently make UConn their top choice. It's a great time to be a Husky!

University of Connecticut

S. Megan Berthold has many years of experience conducting forensic evaluations, providing psychotherapy, and conducting research with diverse torture survivors. She has served as an expert witness in many of their asylum hearings and Co-Chairs the US National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs' Research and Data Project. Her research with Cambodian genocide survivors in the United States addresses health intervention and behavior change in a population with enormous health disparities and extremely high rates of comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, diabetes, hypertension, and history of stroke. It has implications for prevention of comorbid complex health problems in newer arriving refugee groups. She collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of researchers and community leaders and organizations to promote increased health and the management of chronic conditions. Team members come from the School of Social Work (Berthold), School of Pharmacy (Buckley), the UConn Health Center (Wagner), Khmer Health Advocates (a Connecticut community based non-profit serving Cambodian Americans for over 30 years and the leading agency of the National Cambodian American Health Initiative), and the Cambodian Diabetes Association (in Siem Reap, Cambodia).

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