Council of Deans

Currently the Associate Dean of Practicum Learning at Columbia University’s School of Social Work, Warren has previously served as Assistant Dean of Practicum Education and Clinical Associate Professor at SUNY Stony Brook, and Assistant Director of Field Education for the MSW Program at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. 

As an educator, Warren’s teaching pedagogy includes courses in undergraduate and graduate courses like: Anti-Racist Social Work: Understanding White Fragility and Black Rage,  Human Behavior in the Social Environment, Contemporary Social Justice, Advanced Social Work Practice with Individuals in a Family Context, Oppression, Diversity, and Human Rights, Foundations of Social Work Practice, Introduction to Social Work, Diversity and Oppression in Clinical Social Work Practice utilizing a P.I.E. Perspective, and Advanced Clinical Practice with Families and Couples.

Prior to academia, Warren’s 21 years of past direct practice experience include outpatient substance use and mental health, alternatives to incarceration treatment programs, and practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. His forensic experience came as a result of overseeing the Nassau County Family Treatment Court and Juvenile Drug Treatment Court programs; as a grant funded Evidence Based Interventionist with Suffolk Department of Probation; and maintaining a court appointed forensic practice for 15 years. The clinical practice that includes court appointed work also includes a clinical private practice, Preferential Peace, LCSW, PC.

Warren is a 20 year active member of the National Association of Social Workers as NYS President, Board member for the NYS Social Work Educators Association, and co-chair of the Council on Social Work Education’s Council on Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity.

Dr. Hara’s work has focused on support for cancer patients, their caregivers, and those bereaved by cancer.

Dr. Richard Hara is a Lecturer at the Columbia School of Social Work, where he teaches courses on direct practice, clinical practice evaluation, and health care policy. He previously served as a clinical social worker at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and as Director of Online Services at CancerCare, in which role he managed a national program of online support groups serving the needs of cancer patients and caregivers.

Dr. Hara has presented on cultural competence in oncology social work, end-of-life and bereavement counseling, and the use of online communication with clients in a clinical context. He co-authored a guide for cancer caregiving, and has published articles on cancer survivorship, domestic violence screening, and intervention issues in the oncology population. He contributed a chapter on bereavement groups to the Handbook of Oncology Social Work (Oxford University Press, 2015). He has been the principal investigator for an institutional training grant from the American Cancer Society for second year MSW students in clinical oncology social work.

Qin Gao is a leading authority on China’s social welfare system. Dr. Gao is the Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice in the School of Social Work at Columbia University, where she also serves as the Associate Dean for Doctoral Education. She is also the Founding Director of Columbia’s China Center for Social Policy, the first research center of its kind within a school of social work.

Dr. Gao’s research examines poverty, inequality, social policy, and population well-being in China and among Asian Americans. She led The State of Chinese Americans Survey in 2022 and is a member of the New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing study research team. Dr. Gao’s book, Welfare, Work, and Poverty: Social Assistance in China (Oxford University Press, 2017) presents a systematic evaluation of the world’s largest social welfare program, Dibao. Her co-edited book, China Urbanizing: Impacts and Transitions (Penn Press, 2022), captures China’s urbanization in its historical and regional variations and explores its multifaceted impacts. 

Dr. Gao is a faculty affiliate of the Columbia Population Research Center, Committee on Global Thought, and Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University; a member of the Faculty Steering Committee for the Columbia Global Centers | Beijing; an Academic Board Member of the China Institute for Income Distribution at Beijing Normal University; and a Public Intellectual Fellow and Member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Dr. Gao’s work has been supported by multiple funding sources such as the Henry Luce Foundation, Asian Development Bank, UNICEF, and the World Bank. 

Dr. Gao holds a BA from China Youth University of Political Studies, an MA from Peking University, and an MPhil and PhD from Columbia University School of Social Work. She has been interviewed by multiple media outlets such as the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs; the Council on Foreign Relations; and SupChina’s Sinica Podcast. 

Moira Curtain is Assistant Dean and Director of the Advising Department at CSSW. She previously served as an associate director in the Field Education Department, and managed the International, Immigrant and Refugee Field of Practice. She has taught the Immersion Seminar and the Seminar in Field Instruction at CSSW.

Prior to joining CSSW, Ms. Curtain was involved in work related to medical social work, foster care, and human rights. She was a Program Director at the Center for Urban Community Services in New York for five years, in which role she worked with formerly homeless people, many of whom also were living with substance use problems, mental illness, and HIV/AIDS. She has consulted with the United Nations, the Soros Foundation, and the International Studies Trauma Program. She serves as a representative to the UN for the International Association of Social Work, and as co-chair of NASW-NYC’s Chapter for the International Affairs Committee. Ms. Curtain earned her BA from La Trobe University (Australia), her BSW from the University of Melbourne (Australia), and her MSW from the Columbia School of Social Work.

Melissa Begg became Dean of Columbia School of Social Work on September 1, 2019. She is deeply committed to the pursuit of better science for a better society through research, education, practice and collaboration.

Dr. Begg is a population health scientist with 30 years of experience and a longstanding commitment to developing the strongest possible evidence base for human health and well-being. Her early research focused on technical methods for evaluating associations from correlated data (such as sibling and family studies), especially as applied to early life determinants of adult health. Dr. Begg has promoted innovation in graduate health professional education, including the implementation of a major redesign of the Columbia MPH curriculum, emphasizing interdisciplinary engagement, practical skill-building, and leadership training for health professionals at all levels. In collaboration with public health and social work colleagues, she participated in launching a new cultural competency training program for MPH students, co-authoring a manuscript on the results. She formerly served as Vice Provost for Academic Programs for Columbia University and Co-Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.

Throughout her career, Dr. Begg has developed and directed a number of educational and career development programs to support success in interdisciplinary team science. She has led two NIH-funded training programs to promote diversity: one aimed at undergraduates from under-represented groups, introducing them to careers in the population health sciences; and one aimed at under-represented junior faculty, providing grant-writing advice, career guidance, and mentorship. In 2006, Begg received both the University-wide Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Mailman School Teaching Award from the Graduating Class. She also received the 2013 ASPPH/Pfizer Award for Teaching Excellence. Over the past 15 years as an academic administrator, she has focused on convening interdisciplinary scientific teams, developing innovative curricula, creating mentorship programs, and enhancing diversity in the research workforce.

Dr. Begg received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Fairfield University and a Doctor of Science in Biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Dr. Melissa Begg first joined Columbia University as an Assistant Professor of Public Health (Biostatistics) in 1989, after receiving her ScD from the Harvard School of Public Health. Her early research focused on technical methods for evaluating associations from correlated data such as sibling and family studies, especially as applied to early life determinants of adult health.

As she progressed as an academic, Dr. Begg found herself becoming more and more invested in developing and evaluating academic programs. She found it fascinating to consider how educational programs are created and implemented, and ways to assess whether students in these programs achieve the goals set for them. Reflecting this growing interest, she occupied a series of positions that expanded her capacity as an academic administrator.

Rising to the position of Co-Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at the Irving Medical Center—one of over 60 medical research institutions across the nation that work together to speed the translation of research discovery into improved patient care—Dr. Begg promoted innovation in graduate health professional education and directed a number of career development programs for young investigators. With independent funding from the NIH, she initiated two career development programs to promote diversity: one aimed at college undergraduates, introducing them to careers in the population health sciences; the other at underrepresented junior faculty, providing grant-writing advice, career support, and mentorship.

When serving as Vice Dean for Education at the Mailman School of Public Health, Dr. Begg succeeded in implementing the redesign of the Master of Public Health program’s core curriculum to what has now become the industry standard—a daunting project that required close monitoring and evaluation on multiple levels.

On the strength of these many achievements, Dr. Begg was recruited to join the Provost’s Office in 2014 as Vice Provost for Academic Programs. In this role she is charged with overseeing university accreditation, approval processes for all new educational programs university-wide, educational agreements with domestic and international partner institutions, cross-school fellowships and awards, the support of interdisciplinary research and teaching, selected faculty leadership development programs, and the academic review of schools and institutes at Columbia.

Dr. Begg is the recipient of numerous awards, including the University-wide Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Mailman School Teaching Award from the Graduating Class in 2006. In 2012, she was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and received the Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award in Biostatistics from her alma mater, the Harvard School of Public Health.

The Associate Dean for Communication Strategy, Development and Alumni Affairs is responsible for engaging alumni and friends who share the School’s vision; promoting the visibility of the School through strategic communications; expanding connections with key stakeholders; managing existing and new fundraising initiatives, with a particular focus on scholarship support; identifying new partners and supporters dedicated to social and racial justice; leading impactful cross-disciplinary teams, initiatives, and projects; and, serving as liaison to the University’s development and alumni relations efforts.

Danielle Marie Officer is the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at CSSW.
She has extensive experience in nonprofit organizations; student affairs; and diversity,
equity and inclusion (DEI) leadership. Prior to coming to CSSW, she served in various
leadership roles at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
(CUNY). In addition, she worked as an adjunct instructor at Baruch College, CUNY, in
the School of Public Affairs.

In the role as Associate Dean, Danielle oversees DEI efforts for the entire CSSW
community (students, faculty, and staff); is an integral member of the school’s
leadership team; collaborates with leaders to design strategies that foster cultural
awareness and civil discourse; participates in strategic planning activities; designs and
implements robust programs, services, and communications that promote diversity,
inclusion, social justice, and civil discourse throughout the CSSW community.

Danielle earned her Doctor of Education degree from Saint Peter’s University, where
her dissertation focused on “Black Male Initiative Programs: Do Black Females Have a
Place? An Exploration of the Lived Experiences of Black Females in BMI Programs.”
She also earned her Master of Public Education degree from Baruch College, and her
Bachelor of Arts from University of Rhode Island, where she majored in Psychology and
minored in African & African American Studies.

Dr. Schwalbe works on finding alternatives to incarceration and institutionalization for vulnerable young people who get trapped in the criminal justice system from an early age.

Professor Craig Schwalbe has over a decade of experience in direct practice and administration in public and private agencies serving adults and children with serious mental illnesses and families involved in the child welfare system. At CSSW, Dr. Schwalbe teaches practice skills in foundation-year courses and advanced clinical practice skills in the second-year curriculum.

Dr. Schwalbe’s scholarship focuses on minimizing the use of detention and incarceration for justice-involved youth. He studies the ways juvenile justice systems can identify youths who are at low risk of repeat offending, the ways evidence-based diversion programs can be implemented in community settings to reduce exposure of youths to the juvenile justice system, and which evidence-based probation interventions yield strongest outcomes for justice-involved youth. His research has been funded by UNICEF and the William T. Grant Foundation.

Dr. Schwalbe is a recipient of the William T. Grant Scholars Award and is a contributing author for the 10th edition of the text Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills. He holds a BA from Concordia College, an MSW from Augsburg College, and a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Assistant Dean for Student Services leads the Offices of Career Services and Leadership Management, Student Life, and Student Services. The Career Services arm guides students and alumni toward successful career outcomes by providing resources, support, and connections to opportunities and networks that enhance their educational and professional experience. The Office of Student Life plans and oversees all aspects of student life, including but not limited to: managing our three student orientations each academic year; training peer mentors; and overseeing 25+ student groups and the Student Union. The team also plans and executes the school-wide graduation ceremony and advises and guides students in producing the school’s affinity graduations. Student Services manages student enrollment and all matters related to registration each term. The team administers program requirements and academic policies, conducts degree certifications, facilitates disability accommodations, assigns classrooms, manages student records and licensing paperwork, and provides market research around student enrollment and course data to other student support offices.

Ana Abraído-Lanza's research focuses on cultural, psychological, social, and structural factors that affect health and mortality among Latinos; health disparities between Latinos and non-Latino whites; and the health of immigrant Latinos.  Her research on the Latino mortality epidemiologic paradox and on acculturation have contributed to national and international debates on the health of Latinos.  Prior to joining Columbia’s School of Social Work, she was Vice Dean and Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, and Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health.  Her honors and awards include the Dalmas Taylor Distinguished Contributions Award from the Minority Fellowship Program of the American Psychological Association, the Student Assembly Public Health Mentoring Award from the American Public Health Association, and the Mailman School’s Teaching Excellence Award. She served on the Community Task Force on Preventive Services of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and on Editorial Boards of Health Education and Behavior, and Annals of Behavioral Medicine.