MEET THE STREET TEAM

EDWARD SUAREZ, PSY.D

Born and raised in Miami, Florida. Dr. Edward Suarez, Jr. has committed the majority of his career to uplifting marginalized communities and those afflicted by mental health issues. Dr. Suarez obtained his Doctorate degree at Northwest University in Seattle, Washington. It was at Northwest U where he began to learn about the founding principles of Social Justice and how psychologists can use their skills to steer communities into a positive direction. His studies and experience as an intensive outpatient clinician in Seattle led him back to Miami where he was hired as the Director of the Lazarus Project at Camillus House and Health. A program built to engage and house individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and severe mental illness. A faculty member in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UM, Dr. Suarez also serves as the Behavioral Health Director at UM-IDEA syringe services program, which was Florida’s first and only legal syringe exchange program. He works alongside Dr. Hansel Tookes MD MPH linking people who inject drugs to HIV/HCV care and substance abuse treatment by utilizing various community resources, one of which being Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital. Since moving back to Miami, his experiences at Camillus and IDEA SSP have taught him that steering an entire community into a positive direction is accomplished one community member at a time, but he is up for the task.