Mohammad Mousavi

Mohammad Mousavi is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware and a Research Assistant in the Stigma & Health Inequities Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Valerie Earnshaw. Broadly, Mohammad’s research interests are in stigma and quantitative methods, with a specific focus on stigma regarding substance use disorder, mental illness, and HIV/AIDS. Mohammad comes to the University of Delaware with a Master of Sciences degree in Clinical Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Currently Mohammad is involved in several national and international NIH-funded projects, including: 1) developing a disclosure intervention to reduce social isolation and facilitate recovery among individuals in treatment for opioid use disorder, 2) examining the longitudinal impact of stigma mechanisms on treatment engagement in emerging adults, 3) implementing stigma reduction tools via a popular teletraining platform to decrease clinician stigma and improve HIV testing, prevention, and linkage to care in Malaysia, 4) explaining the unique perspectives, experiences, challenges, and knowledge of suicide risk factors and evidence-based practices for suicide prevention among professionals working in the criminal legal system, in collaboration with the Addiction Policy Forum 5) evaluating the effectiveness of the enCompass and responding to addiction interventions in improving knowledge of addiction, in collaboration with the Addiction Policy Forum, and 6) conducting a statewide needs assessment to identify the met and unmet needs of individuals who could benefit from HIV prevention services, in collaboration with the Delaware HIV Planning Council.

Research Projects

• National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #: R01DA059557). Disclosure Intervention to Reduce Social Isolation and Facilitate Recovery among People in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. Research Assistant: Mohammad Mousavi, Principal Investigator: Dr. Valerie Earnshaw. 2023-2028
• National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #: R01MH126196). Pathways to Mental Health Care: Examining the Longitudinal Impact of Stigma Mechanisms on Treatment Engagement in Emerging Adults. Research Assistant: Mohammad Mousavi, Principal Investigator: Dr. Valerie Earnshaw. 2022-2026
• Doctoral Fellowship for Excellence (Grant #: 702648618), University of Delaware. Principal Investigator: Mohammad Mousavi 2025-2026       
• National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #: R34MH124390). Implementing Stigma Reduction Tools via a Popular Teletraining Platform to Reduce Clinician Stigma and Disparities in HIV Testing, Prevention, and Linkage to Care in Malaysia. Research Assistant: Mohammad Mousavi, Principal Investigator: Dr. Valerie Earnshaw. 2020-2023
• Addiction Policy Forum. Measure Whether the EnCompass and Responding to Addiction Interventions Work, or Improve People’s Knowledge of Addiction. Project Coordinator: Mohammad Mousavi, Principal Investigator: Dr. Valerie Earnshaw and Jessica Hulsey. 2023-2026               
• Addiction Policy Forum. Explaining the Unique Perspectives, Experiences, Challenges, and Knowledge of Suicide Risk Factors and Evidence-Based Practices for Suicide Prevention among Professionals Working in the Criminal Legal System. Project Coordinator: Mohammad Mousavi, Principal Investigator: Dr. Valerie Earnshaw and Jessica Hulsey. 2025            
• Delaware HIV Consortium (collaboration with the Delaware HIV Planning Council). Rolling Out a Statewide Needs Assessment to Identify the Met and Unmet Needs of Individuals Who Would Benefit from Accessing HIV Prevention Services. Research Assistant: Mohammad Mousavi, Principal Investigator: Dr. Valerie Earnshaw. 2024

Recent Publications

• Mousavi, M., Sticinski, E. V., Hill, E. C., Brousseau, N. M., Hulsey, J., Morrison, L. M., Kelly, J. F., Fox, A. B., & Earnshaw, V. A. (2025). Predicting disclosure among people with opioid use disorder: A machine learning approach. Journal of Drug Issues. 00220426251370611.
• Earnshaw, V. A., Mousavi, M., Qiu, X., & Fox, A. B. (2025). Mental illness and substance use disorder stigma: Mapping pathways between structures and individuals to accelerate research and intervention. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 21.
• Fox, A. B., Qiu, X., Mousavi, M., & Earnshaw, V. A. (2025). Advancing the measurement of mental illness stigma: Considerations of time, structural stigma, and intersectionality. The Handbook of Mental Health Communication, 141-153.
• Mousavi, M., Sticinski, E. V., Hill, E. C., Brousseau, N. M., Hulsey, J., Morrison, L. M., Kelly, J. F., Fox, A. B., & Earnshaw, V. A. (2025). Predictors of enacted stigma following disclosure among people in recovery from opioid use disorder: A machine learning approach. Journal of Substance Use, 1–8.
• Earnshaw, V. A., Brousseau, N. M., Hill, E. C., Laurenceau, J-P, Sepucha, K. R., Qiu, X., Mousavi, M., Morrison, L. F., Kelly, J. F. (2024). Enacted stigma from family and drug use during opioid use disorder treatment. Stigma & Health.
• Chong, N., Azwa, I., Hassan, A. A., Mousavi, M., Wong, P. L., Ng, R. X., & Earnshaw, V. A. (2024). HIV activist identity, commitment, and orientation scale (HAICOS): psychometric evaluation to assess clinicians’ propensity towards HIV activism in Malaysia. AIDS and Behavior, 1-13.
• Mousavi, M., Nejad, S. M., Shafaati, M., Mykyta-Chomsky, R., Akbarpour, S., & Hadavandsiri, F. (2023). Association between psychological discomforts and sleep quality among people living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS Research and Therapy, 20(1), 78.