Zeno Franco
Assistant professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin
Zeno Franco specializes in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health concerns. He has partnered with Dryhootch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting veterans with their return home from combat.
The organization provides a safe place for veterans to gather, and also provides services of all kinds, including health care.
In addition to his role at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Franco is the principal investigator for a five-year Healthier Wisconsin Partnership program called “Dryhootch
iPeer: A Social & Technology Support Program for Veteran Mental Health.”
The program began in 2013, and seeks to improve access to trained peer mentor support for younger veterans at risk for mental health problems. Under Franco’s direction, the program uses a combination of face-to-face support and telehealth opportunities to provide access to 21 trained peer mentors at Dryhootch locations throughout the region, and plans to continue its expansion.
Franco also serves as the faculty coordinator for the DryHootch Partners for Veteran Health, a community-academic collaboration focused on improving outcomes for veterans across a wide variety of health and mental health outcomes.
He also serves as the principal investigator for the Clinical & Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin, a collaborative pilot project focused on detecting high-risk behaviors in veterans.
Through his research partnerships and involvement and volunteer work for DryHootch, Franco is focused on making a difference for veterans in the Milwaukee region, and addressing and treating mental health concerns that can often go undiagnosed and untreated.
