Melina Melgarejo, Ph.D.

Bio

Dr. Melgarejo received her doctorate degree in Education with an emphasis in Special Education, Disabilities, and Risk Studies from UC Santa Barbara. She began her career working as a clinical supervisor, working primarily with Latinx families of children with developmental disabilities. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at SDSU and was also a lecturer in the SPED and CFD departments. Dr. Melgarejo is currently an investigator at the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center (CASRC) and serves on the executive leadership team for the California Autism Professional Training and Information Network (CAPTAIN), a statewide multi-agency collaboration of providers with the common goal of scaling up the use of evidence-based practices for individuals with autism. Dr. Melgarejo specializes in improving intervention effectiveness and access for dual language learners with disabilities. Her research interests include implementation and cultural adaptation of evidence-based practices, serving culturally and linguistically diverse communities, forming community partnerships to facilitate change, early childhood education, and autism.