Ana Carolina Florence, PhD

Dr. Florence studies how people living with serious mental illness and autism can flourish and build the kinds of lives they choose—lives that include work, connection, and the ordinary hopes that make communities whole. She leads national and international research on Individual Placement and Support (IPS), the evidence-based approach that helps people with psychiatric disabilities return to competitive employment and community life.

Her projects range widely. In Kentucky, she leads a randomized controlled trial funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, testing how IPS can open pathways to work for adults on the autism spectrum. In California, she serves as Principal Investigator for the Data Infrastructure Development within the IPS Center of Excellence, part of the BH-CONNECT initiative. Her team applies a learning healthcare system framework to build a statewide data platform that supports continuous quality improvement and strengthens the implementation of evidence-based practices so Californians receive the care they need to flourish.

At OnTrackNY, New York State’s early psychosis initiative, Dr. Florence leads efforts to embed lived experience within research, training, and service delivery. She mentors and builds capacity among young adults with firsthand experience of psychosis, creating pathways for them to shape programs, evaluation, and future research.

Her work threads together randomized trials, qualitative methods, and community-based inquiry, tracing how ideas about care become practice in real places. Fluent in Portuguese, French, Spanish, and English, Dr. Florence works with partners in Brazil, Uganda, and across the United States to turn evidence into practice and to anchor mental health care in rights, dignity, and the simple, shared aspirations of everyday life.