Kathryn Macapagal Named Impact Institute Co-Director

We are pleased to name Kathryn Macapagal, PhD, as the first co-director of Northwestern University’s Impact Institute! As co-director, Macapagal will lead Impact with Director Brian Mustanski, PhD.  

Macapagal is an associate professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg School of Medicine. She first joined the Impact Institute as a postdoctoral fellow in 2013 and was hired as a faculty member in 2014. She has been co-director of the THRIVE Center within Impact since 2020 and served as Impact’s interim associate director from 2020 – 2021. 

“I’m thrilled to take on this role at Impact, which has been my professional home for more than a decade. Moving into the co-director role felt like a natural next step after serving in other leadership roles at Impact and the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research,” said Macapagal. “I'm especially looking forward to partnering with our director and the administrative and leadership teams at Impact to execute our shared priorities.” 

A licensed clinical psychologist, Macapagal conducts social-behavioral dissemination and implementation research focused on improving adolescent health and wellbeing, with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth, sexual health, and HIV prevention. Her research relies on digital and multimedia approaches and community-engaged research to understand adolescents' sexual health and HIV prevention needs. Through her work leading Impact’s Teen Health Lab, Macapagal develops, tests, and explores implementation of interventions to improve adolescents' health behaviors, facilitate their access to care, and support their ability to thrive. One example of this work is the adolescent public health campaign PrEP4Teens, which began as a research project that is now being implemented by partner organization Taskforce Prevention and Community Services. 

“Kathryn brings a track record of research excellence, compassionate leadership, and execution of ambitious strategic plans to the co-directorship. She has been a respected scientist and team leader at the Impact Institute since its founding, and I am honored to work with her on Impact’s next era,” said Mustanski. 

Among Macapagal’s priorities are building and strengthening bridges across all Northwestern’s schools, colleges, and related institutes; supporting faculty development; and enhancing the institute’s impact through community engagement and research dissemination.