Center for
Global Health

Associate Scholar

Languages - English (native), Spanish (basic)

BIO STATEMENT 

Tim Becker is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow and post-doctoral research fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia/Cornell/NYSPI. He completed psychiatry residency in the global mental health track at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he was involved in clinical collaborations with mental health professionals in Liberia and Grenada. During medical school at Penn, he spent two research blocks in Botswana, initially developing a head trauma database, and later qualitatively investigating explanatory models and stigma related to mental illness. His global health research has focused on describing, measuring, and addressing stigma across different cultural contexts.

RECENT GLOBAL HEALTH PROJECTS

- qualitative study of stigma among people with serious mental illness and their family members in Chile
- evaluation of culturally adapted group stigma intervention for Chinese immigrants with mental illness in the US
- RCT of culturally adapted group-based stigma intervention for women with HIV and serious mental illness in Botswana

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Becker, TD.*, Blasco, D.*, Barrone, MS*, Dishy, G., Velasco, P., Reginatto, G., Mascayano, F., Wu, M., Hu, C., Bharadwaj, S., Khattar, S., Calderon, L., Filgueira, C., Alvarado, R.**, Susser, E.**, Yang, LH.** (2023). Stigma towards psychosis in urban Chile: Engaging “What Matters Most” to resist stigma through recovery-oriented services. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000546


Poku, OB, Eschliman, EL, Entaile, P, Rampa, S, Mehta, H, Tal, T, Silvert, L, Li, T, Becker, TD, Govindasamy, D, Stockton, M, Adedimeji, A, Ho-Foster, AR, Blank, MB, Dangerfield DT, Yang, LH, Murray, SM. (2023). “It’s better if I die because even in the hospital, there is a stigma, people still gossip”: Gossip as a culturally shaped labelling process and its implications for HIV-related stigma in Botswana. AIDS & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10461-023-03980-x


Poku, OB, Becker, TD, Rampa, S., Misra, S, Ho-Foster, AR, Entaile, P., Tay, C., Choe, K., Blank, MB, Opondo, P., Yang, LH. (2022). A Multi-stage and Mixed Methods Approach to the Culturally Informed Development of a Self-Stigma Intervention for Pregnant Women Living with HIV in Botswana. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS. https://doi.org/10.21106%2Fijma.569

Yang, L.H.*, Eschliman, E.L.*, Mehta, H., Misra, S., Poku, O.B., Entaile, P., Becker, T.D., Melese, T., Brooks, M.J., Eisenberg, M., Stockton, M.A., Choe, K., Tal, D., Li, T., Go, V., Link, B.G., Rampa, S., Jackson, V., Manyeagae, G.D., Arscott-Mills, T., Goodman, M., Opondo, P.R., Ho-Foster, A.R., Blank, M.B. (2022). A pilot pragmatic trial of a “What Matters Most”-based intervention targeting intersectional stigma related to being pregnant and living with HIV in Botswana. AIDS Research & Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs12981-022-00454-3

Yang, L.H., Poku, O. B., Misra, S., Mehta, H. T., Rampa, S., Eisenberg, M.M., Yang, L.S., Cao, D.T., Blank, L.I., Becker, T.D., Link, B.G., Entaile, P., Opondo, P.R., Arscott-Mills, T., Ho-Foster, A.R., Blank, M.B. (2021). Stigma, Structural Vulnerability, and “What Matters Most” among Women Living with HIV in Botswana, 2017. American Journal of Public Health, 111: 7, 1309-1317. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306274.

Yang, L.H.*, Ho-Foster, A.R.*, Becker, T.D., Misra, S., Poku, O.B., Rampa, S., Entaile, P., Goodman, M., Blank, M.B. (2020). Psychometric Validation of a Scale to Assess Culturally-Salient Aspects of HIV stigma among women living with HIV in Botswana: Engaging “What Matters Most” to Resist Stigma. AIDS & Behavior.

Becker, T.D.*, Poku, O.B.,* Chen, X., Wong, J., Mandavia, A., Huang, M., Chen, Y., Huang, D., Ngo, H., Yang, L.H. (2020). The impact of China-to-US immigration on structural and cultural determinants of HIV-related stigma: Implications for HIV care of Chinese immigrants. Ethnicity & Health

Poku, O., Ho-Foster, A., Entaile, P., Misra, S., Mehta, H., Rampa, S., Goodman, M., Arscott-Mills, T., Eschliman, E., Jackson, V., Benti, T., Becker, T, Eisenberg, M., Link, B., Go, V., Opondo, P., Blank, M., Yang, L. ‘Mothers moving towards empowerment’ intervention to reduce stigma and improve treatment adherence in pregnant women living with HIV in Botswana: study protocol for a pragmatic clinical trial. Trials 21, 832 (2020).

Poku, O.B., Becker, T.D., Ho-Foster, A.R., Rampa, S., Entaile, P., Yang, L., Mehta, H., Eisenberg, H., Cao, D., Opondo, P.R., Blank, M.B., Yang, L.H. (2020). Reflections on qualitatively investigating HIV and mental illness stigma in Botswana with a multi-cultural and multi-national team. SAGE Research Methods Cases.

Ramogola-Masire, D., Poku, O., Mazhani, L., Ndwapi, N., Misra, S., Arscott-Mills, T., Blank, L., Ho-Foster, A., Becker, T.D., Yang, L.H. (2020). Botswana’s HIV Response: Policies, Context and Future Directions. Journal of Community Psychology. 48(3), 1066-1070

Becker, T.D., Ho-Foster, A.R., Poku, O.B., Marobela, S., Mehta, H., Cao, D., Yang, L., Blank, L., Dipatane, V., Moeng, R., Molebatsi, K., Eisenberg, M., Barg, F., Blank, M.B., Opondo, P., Yang, L.H. (2019). “It’s when the trees blossom”: Explanatory beliefs, stigma, and mental illness in the context of HIV in Botswana. Qualitative Health Research, 29(11), 1566–1580.

Cox, M., Becker, T., Motsumi, M. (2018). Head trauma: a significant public health concern among young men in Botswana—aetiology, referral patterns and opportunities for interventions. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 9(2), 798

Cox, M., Becker, T.D., Motsumi, J. (2018). Head Injury burden in a major referral hospital emergency centre (EC) in Botswana. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 8(3), 100-105.

Last Updated: 08 April 2024