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Alejandra Arango, Ph.D., is the recipient of the 2025 Todd Ouida Clinical Scholars Award. She was honored at the annual Todd Ouida Clinical Scholars Lecture on October 8 in Ann Arbor.

Dr. Arango is a clinical child psychologist and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Her research aims to reduce youth suicide by finding better ways to support children and teens at high risk for adverse mental health outcomes. She is particularly interested in helping young people build stronger support networks and feel more connected to those around them.

Her project, Development of a Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention (YDSP) Specialty Clinic, will help her create a program focused on providing urgent support to youth in crisis and improving outpatient care for vulnerable children and teens. This new program aims to fill that gap by providing suicide-specific support that is developmentally tailored and family-centered. 

“I am honored to be part of the Todd Ouida Scholars community and immensely grateful for the support of my work,” said Dr. Arango. “The vision is to build a multidisciplinary, evidence-based, collaborative, and patient-centered approach to care for youth at elevated suicide risk and their caregivers.”

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As a patient-care provider, she offers bilingual care to children, teens, and their families. She uses evidence-based approaches to treat mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and psychosis and specializes in preventing suicide.​

“Dr. Alejandra Arango was chosen for the Todd Ouida Clinical Scholars Award because she truly embodies the spirit of a clinical scholar,” said Michelle Kees, Ph.D., chair of the award selection committee and faculty lead of our Center’s Jenkins Family Outreach & Education team. “She combines compassion, innovation and dedication in her care for young people and families, while generously sharing her expertise to uplift colleagues and advance suicide prevention for our community.”

For more than twenty years, the Todd Ouida Clinical Scholars Award has supported U-M researchers studying childhood anxiety and depression. The annual lecture and award honors Todd Ouida, who overcame severe anxiety as a child, earned a psychology degree from the University of Michigan, and lost his life on September 11, 2001, while working at the World Trade Center.

“We are grateful to the Ouida family for being the spark that keeps us diligent in our quest to make a difference in children’s mental health and for being an inspiration to us all,” said Kees.