Juan Manuel Peña is an Assistant Professor at San José State University in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Peña completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of New Mexico with a Diversity and Multicultural emphasis. He completed his clinical internship and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. 

As a first generation college graduate, and bilingual English and Spanish speaker, Dr. Peña is committed to teaching, mentoring students, and conducting culturally appropriate research and clinical work with communities from underrepresented backgrounds.

Through interdisciplinary collaboration, he has conducted research in the areas of community engaged research (e.g., CBPR), Latino/x and Hispanic mental health, social and cultural determinants of health, attitudes toward undocumented immigrants and substance use. Dr. Peña's current primary research interests are in advancing and improving the mental health of immigrants and racial and ethnic minoritized people, and using community engaged research approaches to improve access and utilization of mental health services and inform health policy. 

When possible, Dr. Peña enjoys spending time with his family, reading hardcover books, exercising, traveling and learning about cultures, and trying new food.