Dr. Melissa Chinchilla is a Research Scientist at AltaMed Institute for Health Equity and a Health Services Researcher at THRIVe. Her research focuses on the social determinants of health, including housing and homelessness. Her research has examined the community integration outcomes of formerly homeless individuals assisted through the VA’s largest homeless program, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-VA Supportive Housing (VASH). Dr. Chinchilla’s research on HUD-VASH points to the importance of voucher type and neighborhood factors in assuring that formerly homeless individuals in supportive housing are able to achieve housing stability and improvements in quality of life. Dr. Chinchilla’s work also examines Latino homelessness in Los Angeles County, including what is driving the increase in Latino homelessness, gaps in housing and service provision, and best practices for serving this population. Dr. Chinchilla holds a doctorate from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a masters of Health Policy Management from UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health.