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Education and Training
Education and Training
Dr. Castillo is second-generation Filipino American, born and raised in rural Virginia. He is dually board certified in psychiatry (ABPN) and in public and community psychiatry (American Association of Community Psychiatrists). He obtained his BA in English from the University of Virginia and his MD with a Concentration in Underserved Populations from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his psychiatry residency and public psychiatry clinical fellowship at Columbia University. Dr. Castillo completed a 2-year fellowship in health services/health policy research, the UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program (formerly the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program), and obtained his MS in Health Policy and Management from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
After completing his training, he served as a full-time psychiatrist in the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for 4 years and was a faculty member in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry for 8.5 years (Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry). He was an affiliated faculty member in the UCLA Center for Community Engagement, the California Policy Lab at UCLA, and the UCLA Brain Research Institute.
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Specialized Trainings
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Health Disparities Research Institute
Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in Health Professions. Medical Education Training
Program for Leadership in Academic Medicine. UCLA School of Medicine and UCLA School of Management (Business)
Career Development Institute for Psychiatry (R25 training program)
Community Psychiatry
Community Psychiatry
Dr. Castillo specializes in serving vulnerable and under-resourced populations within public mental health systems, with a focus on field-based clinical services for individuals with the highest acuity serious mental illness and individuals experiencing homelessness. In addition to clinical leadership, Dr. Castillo was the founder and program director for the UCLA Public Psychiatry Fellowship Program, which was the first public psychiatry clinical fellowship program in Los Angeles. His leadership, research, and medical education work, detailed below, centers on community psychiatry and improving public mental health systems.
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Double board certified in Psychiatry (ABPN) and Public and Community Psychiatry (AACP)
Multi-faceted expertise as a public psychiatrist in the roles of clinician, leader, medical director, researcher, and medical educator
Focus on community partnerships, cross-sector collaborations, and improving the capacity of systems to address complex health and social needs for individuals with serious mental illness
Work experience in a variety of public psychiatry settings and modalities including inpatient, outpatient, emergency psychiatry, non-law enforcement mobile crisis, homeless outreach, Assertive Community Treatment, Assisted Outpatient Treatment
Leadership
Leadership
Dr. Castillo holds several state and national leadership roles focused on public mental health systems and services, community-public-academic partnerships, physician advocacy, and inter-professional science engagement. He was a member of the California State Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health and was a member of the Sozosei Foundation's Research Advisory Group on Decriminalizing Mental Illnesses. In research and medical education, he is a Behavioral Health Advisory Board Member of the Association of American Medical Colleges, faculty member and mentor in the Career Development Institute for Psychiatry, and holds multiple positions within the American Psychiatric Association and American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training. He was one of three physician members of the New Voices Initiative of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021-23, second cohort) and is a 2025-28 National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholar.
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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: New Voices Initiatives
National Academy of Medicine: Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholar
California State Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health
Author of 7 American Psychiatric Association Position Statements (national practice and policy guidelines), including
Mental Health Equity and the Social and Structural Determinants of Health (2018, primary author)
Diversity and Inclusion in the Physician Workforce (2019, primary author)
Racism and Racial Discrimination in the Psychiatric Workplace (2021)
Housing, Homelessness, and Mental Health (2023)
Role of Augmented Intelligence in Clinical Practice and Research (2024)
Advisory Committee Memberships
Association of American Medical Colleges, Behavioral Health Advisory Committee
American Psychiatric Association, National Fellowship Advisory Committee for Minority Fellowship Programs (undergraduate, medical school, and graduate medical education fellowships)
Homeboy Industries, Community Advisory Board Member for Wellness and Community Care Initiatives
Sozosei Foundation Research Advisory Group on Decriminalizing Mental Illnesses
UCLA School of Medicine Health Equity and Translational Social Science Research Theme, Advisory Board Member
UCLA School of Medicine Bruin Scholars Advisory Group (for recruitment and retention of promising junior faculty)
UCLA School of Medicine Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance, Founding Steering Committee Member
UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Advisory Committee Member
UCLA Psychiatry Diversity Advisory Committee
UCLA National Clinician Scholars Program, Community and Policy Advisory Committee Member
Research
Research
Dr. Castillo’s program of research focuses on serious mental illness, homelessness, and incarceration, with the aim to improve the capacity of public systems to address health and social inequities. In the roles of PI or Co-PI, he has secured over $1.9 million in research funding and over $4 million in government-academic contracts. He led NIMH-funded projects (K23 and R34) on the jail-to-homelessness pipeline experienced by individuals with serious mental illness. His research has been conducted in close partnership with local, state, and national agencies and community organizations including the US Office of the Surgeon General, the NY State Office of Mental Health, Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Health Services, the RAND Corporation, and Healthy African American Families II. He is a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Systems Research Scientific Merit Review Board for Behavioral, Social, and Cultural Determinants of Health and Care and has previously served on NIH scientific review committees. He is an associate editor for Academic Psychiatry, a column editor for Psychiatric Services, and member of the editorial board of Community Mental Health Journal.
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Led multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research teams and large team science projects
Principal Investigator of NIMH-funded research projects (K23 and R34) on the jail-to-homelessness pipeline experienced by individuals with serious mental illness
Career Development Institute for Psychiatry Faculty Member (R25 training program)
National Alliance to End Homelessness, Invited Member of the Homelessness Research Network
UCLA COVID-19 Health Equity Research and Advisory Committee Co-Chair
National Scientific Review Committees
NIH Early Career Reviewer. NIH Special Emphasis Panel for Firearm Injury and Mortality Prevention Research
NIH Reviewer. NIH Special Emphasis Panel on the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic-related Food and Housing Policies in Health Disparity Populations.
Veterans Affairs Scientific Reviewer. Scientific Merit Review Board, Health Systems Research (HSR2 Behavioral, Social, and Cultural Determinants of Health and Care)
Journal Editorial Positions
Community Mental Health Journal, Editorial Advisory Board Member
Psychiatric Services, Column Editor for Research, Community, and Services Partnerships
Academic Psychiatry, Associate Editor
Reviewer for 35 Medline-indexed Academic Medical Journals
International Science Engagement
Organizing Committee Member, 2023 Arab-American Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium. Sponsors: US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Hamad Bin Khalifa University; and Texas A&M University at Qatar. Doha, Qatar.
Fellowship Recipient, Arab-American Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (international science exchange). Rabat, Morocco.
Letten Prize Selection Committee (international science prize). Sponsors: The Letten Foundation and the Young Academy of Norway. Oslo, Norway.
Science and Technology in Society Forum and Young Leaders Program. Kyoto, Japan.
Graduate Medical Education
Graduate Medical Education
Dr. Castillo has developed nationally recognized graduate medical education curricula in psychiatry on the topics of public service, structural competency, physician advocacy, and health equity. While at UCLA, Dr. Castillo was the faculty director of community psychiatry education. In that role, he helped to create novel educational offerings to inspire trainees to enter careers in public service, including a 40+ hour curriculum, mentorship program, clinical rotations, several recurring seminar series, advocacy initiatives, and over 20 educational partnerships with local health agencies and community-based organizations, including Project 180, the Hammer Museum, and Dignity and Power Now (Frontline Wellness Network). He is a national expert in competency-based education and was selected as one of 18 members of the National Collaborative to Create Foundational Competencies for Undergraduate Medical Education (joint initiative of the ACGME, AAMC, and AACOM). He is an alumnus of the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in Health Professions. He is the recipient of two departmental teaching awards and the American Psychiatric Association’s Irma J. Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents.
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Founder and Program Director of the UCLA Public Psychiatry Clinical Fellowship Program and Faculty Lead for UCLA Community Psychiatry Education
15 Grand Rounds presentations, over 40 conference presentations and plenaries, nearly 50 invited speakerships and academic seminars
Recipient of a national teaching award (American Psychiatric Association) and two UCLA departmental teaching awards
American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training. Presidential Appointee to the Executive Committee
Invited Member of the National Collaborative to Create Foundational Competencies for Undergraduate Medical Education. Joint initiative of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Association of American Medical College, and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
National Anti-racism in Medicine Curriculum Coalition. Content Development and Review Team
Developed and led a nationally recognized graduate medical education curriculum in community psychiatry and global mental health that featured
Modules organized by local public health crises (e.g., carcerally involved populations and services, homelessness, immigration/asylum)
19 instructors from multiple medical and non-medical disciplines
Non-physician community leaders as teachers in every module
9-hour module on physician advocacy
Experiential learning with community visits to Skid Row / Project 180, Los Angeles County Jail, and the Hammer Museum
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