Dr. Laura Vega is the Co-Director for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Community Violence and Trauma Support Programs. She has more than 20 years of experience working with children and adolescents in community and hospital-based settings.  She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and received her Doctorate in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. Dr. Vega has provided on-going leadership in establishing the CHOP Violence Intervention Program (VIP) policies and procedures. She provides supervision, training, and consultation to hospital staff and students.

Dr. Vega is trained in the Sanctuary Model, the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). She is an adjunct Instructor at Jefferson University’s Community and Trauma Counseling Program and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. As part of her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Vega developed an organizational group model to address secondary traumatic stress, called the Stress-Less Initiative.  She is currently piloting this intervention in school and hospital-based settings. Her research interests include violence prevention and organizational support to address secondary traumatic stress.