Georgia State University Funds an Interpersonal Violence Initiative
In the third year of its Next Generation Program, Georgia State University identified interpersonal violence as an interdisciplinary area in which it seeks to become an internationally recognized resource and authority. GSU intends for the Center for Research on Interpersonal Violence to become an internationally recognized leader of transdisciplinary scholarship on interpersonal violence that aims to (1) understand the causes and consequences of interpersonal violence, (2) emphasize the development, refinement, and evaluation of interventions to reduce or prevent the perpetration of interpersonal violence and address the impact of victimization, and (3) inform public policy.
As a result of this Interpersonal Violence Initiative, the Center for Research on Interpersonal Violence is happy to announce three new faculty who will join us in the 2019-2020 academic year: Dr. Callie Burt (Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology), Dr. Amanda Gilmore (School of Public Health), and Dr. Cynthia Stappenbeck (Department of Psychology). Our new colleagues are distinguished by their interdisciplinary focus and strong track record of studying interpersonal violence and intersecting health problems.
Dr. Callie Burt has a BA, MA, and PhD in Sociology from the University of Georgia. She comes to GSU after having spent the last several years as an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and an affiliate of the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology and Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences at the University of Washington. Dr. Burt’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms linking social inequalities to development and disparities in risky behavior from a life-course perspective. Specifically, her research seeks to elucidate biopsychosocial mechanisms linking social inequalities to disparities in violent, criminal, and health-risk behaviors, with a particular focus on socioeconomic and racial disparities. In current research, Dr. Burt investigates how social forces shape changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking during adolescence, building on recent work highlighting adolescence as a second sensitive period for change—one of vulnerability and opportunity. Currently, with the support of a MRSD K01 award from NICHD (2018-2023), she is studying genomics and biostatistics in order to incorporate gene-environment interplay (especially epigenetic mechanisms of embodiment) into her research program. Her research has been published in various outlets, including the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Criminology, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Forces, Social Problems, and Justice Quarterly.
Dr. Amanda Gilmore received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington, completed her clinical internship at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, and received postdoctoral training in posttraumatic stress research at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She joined the faculty at MUSC in 2016 and currently holds a joint appointment in the College of Nursing and the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Her research interests primarily focus on the development and testing of (1) integrated prevention programs for alcohol and drug use, sexual assault, and sexual risk behaviors among high-risk groups including adolescents, college students, and service members, (2) innovative technology-based interventions to improve the rate of treatment access and decrease treatment drop-out among underserved populations; and (3) secondary prevention programs for individuals who experienced recent sexual assault. She is also interested in the acute effects of alcohol on sexual decision making. Dr. Gilmore has served as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on grants from NIDA, NIAAA, the Office for Victims of Crime and the Department of Homeland Security as well as several internal grant mechanisms. She is also a licensed clinical psychologist with particular expertise in the treatment of substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicidal behaviors and she founded and led clinics that have provided treatment to recent sexual assault victims, victims of crime with posttraumatic stress and suicidal behaviors, and integrated behavioral health care within an OB/GYN clinic.
Dr. Cynthia Stappenbeck is a clinical psychologist conducting research on interpersonal violence and its intersection with other public health problems including alcohol use and mental and sexual health. Her research seeks to understand how the interplay between alcohol and violence is influenced by psychological factors (e.g., emotion regulation), as well as how that interplay subsequently influences mental health (e.g., PTSD) and sexual health outcomes. Dr. Stappenbeck’s goal is to develop, evaluate, and disseminate low resource evidence-based prevention and intervention programs to reduce alcohol-facilitated violence perpetration and improve outcomes for victims of interpersonal violence.