M. Emilia Bianco

Prof. M. Emilia Bianco is a researcher and educator specializing in gender, mental health, human rights, and social justice. She has worked internationally implementing economic development programs and research with women affected by structural inequality and violence. In the United States, she has developed a humanitarian initiative and a research project with asylum-seeking mothers and their children arriving in the Boston area. Her research observes the impact of institutional neglect and violence across borders on maternal practices and maternal mental health, while highlighting women’s agency to survive and preserve the lives of their children in difficult circumstances.

Prof. Bianco has engaged with immigrant families in the Boston area while working with the Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Casa El Salvador, and WEE on a participatory and action research project on immigrant families’ access to services. She is the principal investigator with Dr. Tami Gouveia on an evaluation research project on a socio-emotional learning curriculum developed by Amal Alliance for asylum-seeking children living in shelters in Massachusetts. This research also explores families’ needs and maternal/paternal practices to support children in transit. Prof. Bianco is also co-leading an academic-community engaged research project with Dr. Margaret Lombe and the nonprofit De Novo, exploring the impact of family separation policies on asylum-seeking families’ well-being and dynamics.

Bicultural and bilingual (Spanish/English), Prof. Bianco earned a Master of Social Work and a PhD at Boston College School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in communications at the Universidad Austral, in Argentina.