About the Research Team

Research Director: Dr. Glen Milner

Research Associate: Dr. Michelle Wu

Dr. Michelle Wu is a nurse and clinical faculty member at the University of Illinois. Her primary research activities focus on the influence of immigration and acculturation on mental health among immigrant women. The purpose of her doctoral dissertation research was to identify barriers to seeking mental health services among Korean immigrant women using a design that included focus groups and a questionnaire that was completed by married Korean immigrant women living in the Chicago metropolitan area. The survey included measures on cultural, predisposing, enabling, and psychosocial factors affecting intention to seek mental health services. A qualitative and quantitative inquiry is needed to understand perceptions of mental health problems, symptomatology, and the barriers to seeking mental health services among immigrant women. Michelle is currently working on publishing her findings to direct health care providers towards target subgroups, points of intervention, and types of support needed to assist them. She is a member of the American Public Health Association and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. She has volunteered her research expertise for community health projects related to cancer prevention, immunization barriers, and women's health issues.

Michelle is drawn to the beauty of China and would most likely be found reading an academic article. She loves her sweet husband Michael, playing the piano, a good documentary, having lunch with her husband near his work, the fish in her saltwater tanks, bubble tea, going to Six Flags Great America with her husband, hanging out with the Milners in Chinatown, her husband's amazing dinner entrees, and most of all, her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.