Biography
Dr. Valentín Quiroz Sierra (all pronouns) is Yoeme from the California Yoeme (Yaqui) Indian community. Dr. Sierra joined the Center for Indigenous Health in 2024 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Sierra’s clinical and research agendas focus on eliminating mental health disparities, particularly suicide and depression, for urban Indigenous young people through culturally grounded practices and interventions. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Sierra worked as a Child Therapist at the American Indian Child Resource Center in Oakland, California. Dr. Sierra’s prior experiences also include working at the California Department of Social Services – Office of Tribal Affairs and the Sacramento Native American Health Center. Dr. Sierra earned a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare, where they also earned a Master of Social Welfare degree. Dr. Sierra’s training also draws upon interdisciplinary fields having been named a Human Rights Fellow by the Berkeley School of Law and a Computational Social Science Fellow by the Berkeley Institute for Data Science.