Professor Saint Arnault's connection with the Center spans three decades, beginning with her early academic pursuits as a master's and Ph.D. student to her current role as a faculty member. Over the years, she has made significant contributions to the Center, including serving on the Executive Committee, chairing the faculty funding subcommittee, and, most recently, her tenure as interim director (2023–24).
Professor Saint Arnault is a psychiatric nurse and a medical anthropologist with extensive research on culture and mental health in Japan and among Japanese sojourners in the Detroit area since the early 1990s. She has worked closely with the Japanese community, particularly with wives in the automotive industry, creating hotlines, health system guidebooks, and educational materials, as well as providing support for the U-M Japanese Family Health Program. She led a five-year federally funded research program examining depression among this community and has conducted extensive research on Japanese culture, mental health, and depression in Japan, as well as among Japanese-Brazilian mothers in Japan. Currently, her research focuses on the experience of trauma recovery for Japanese survivors of domestic violence.
