Research Roundtable: IPV & Health

Intimate partner violence begins far earlier than most people realize. This roundtable explores innovative approaches to supporting young people’s healthy relationships through clinical health interventions, community-driven education, prevention campaigns, and culturally responsive care.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025
8:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m CT / 11:00 a.m. ET

Panelists

• Maya Ragavan,MD, MPH, MS​
  Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh
  "Engaging Together for Health Relationships"
   

• Susan Gilbert, MPA
  Co-Director, National Coalition for Sexual Health
  "Own the Awk: A Campaign to promote Open Communication & Healthy Relationships Among Young Adults"
   

• Olivia Harris, MPH
  Director of Strategic Partnership, Speak About It, Inc.
  "Using Theater to Model Positive Behavior Change for Adolescents and Young Adults in the USA: A Grounded Theory of Change "
   

• Sabrina Boyce, PhD, MPH
  Assistant Professor Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
  "Friend Matter: Sexual violence attitudes and Behaviors clusters among socially connected youth in Calirfornia: finding from a social network analysis"

Moderated by Elizabeth Miller, MD, PhD, FSAHM, University of Pittsburgh

Partner Violence undermines sexual and reproductive health. This session examines the vital connections between reproductive health, reproductive coercion, and IPV prevention and response. 

Wednesday, October 8, 2025
 10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Spanish and ASL interpretation will be provided for this webinar

Panelists:

• Shannon Wood, PhD, MSc
  Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: 
  “Trajectories of Reproductive Coercion and Associated Reproductive Health Risks Among a Cohort of Young Women in Nairobi, Kenya”
   

• Jessica Grace, PhD, LMSW
  Assistant Professor, University of North Texas 
  “Reproductive decision-making in abusive relationships: A qualitative synthesis of the experiences of women”
   

• Sophie Morse, PhD, MPP
  Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of California, San Francisco 
  “Intimate Partner Violence as a Barrier to Young Women’s Use of Preferred Contraception”
   

• Jasmine Uysal, MPH
  Predoctoral Fellow, Center on Gender Equity and Health
  University of California San Diego
  ARCHES: Addressing Reproductive Coercion in Health Settings

Moderated by: Jennifer Wagman, PhD, MHS, Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences- UC Los Angeles

Focusing on health systems as critical intervention points, this session presents the latest in trauma-informed practices, screening innovations, and the role of health care providers in supporting survivors, from a systems’ lens to sustain and amplify our efforts.

Wednesday, November 12, 2025
 10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Speakers: 

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN
Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
“Risky Business: How to Talk About Danger with IPV Survivors”

Rachel Robitz, MD
Psychiatrist. UC Davis Trauma Recovery Center
“Cultivating cultural safety: supporting the needs of historically marginalized groups experiencing gender-based violence”

April Schweinhart, PhD
Research Scientist, The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
“Increasing Connection Across Intimate Partner Violence, Substance Use, and Mental Health Service Providers in Kentucky”

Moderated by: 

Brigid McCaw, MD, MPH, MS
Senior Clinical Advisor, UCSF Center to Advance Trauma-Informed Health Care 

Firearms amplify the lethality of domestic violence. This roundtable examines the intersection of gun violence, policy, and public health strategies to protect survivors.

Wednesday, December 10, 2025
10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Spanish and ASL interpretation will be provided for this webinar.

Speakers: 

• Jennifer Becker, Esq.
  Director, National Center on Gun Violence and Relationships
  “Intimate Partner Violence Survivor Experiences with Firearms: Results of a Survivor Focus Survey”  
  2024 Domestic Violence and Firearms Report
   
• Ruhi Bengali, MPA, MSc.
  Senior Advisor, Implementation, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, 
  “Extreme Risk Protection Orders: A Tool to Address the Intersection of Gun Violence and Domestic Violence”
  Guns and Violence Against Women
  Extreme Risk Laws Save Lives
  Champions at Work: Extreme Risk Protection Orders in Action
   
• Abigail Hurst, MSW
  Director of Trauma-Informed Programs, Everytown for Gun Safety
  “Dual Tragedies: Intimate Partner Homicide-Suicides with a Firearm”
  Dual Tragedies: Domestic Homicide-Suicides with a Firearm
  11 Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide-Suicide—and 5 Ways to Prevent It
   

Moderator:
Tiffany Garner, MA, MPA - Child & Health Federal Policy Advocate, Futures Without Violence

Homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy. This session addresses the intertwined epidemics of intimate partner violence and maternal mortality. Centering the experiences of survivors during pregnancy, this session investigates the compounded risks of domestic violence during the perinatal period and how health providers and advocates can support survivors.

Wednesday, January 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Spanish and ASL interpretation will be provided for this webinar.

Speakers: 

• Azucena Ugarte, PhD
  Director, Office of Domestic Violence Strategies
  “A Multi-pronged Approach to Improve IPV Screening in Delivery Hospitals in Philadelphia”
   
• Melissa Bright, PhD
  Founder and Executive Director, Center for Violence Prevention Research
  “Maternal Homicide Rates Among 15 US States”
   
• Uvonne Leverett, MPHA
  Project Coordinator, Tennessee Department of Health
  “Characteristics and Outcomes Associated with Intimate Partner Violence Before and During Pregnancy in Tennessee (2018-2022)” 

Moderator: 
Kamila A. Alexander, PhD, MPH, RN
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Prevention is possible. This roundtable spotlights programs that have demonstrated success in preventing intimate partner violence and promoting healing—from culturally grounded practices to community-based innovations.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026 
10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Speakers: 

• Tara Brunswick, MS, LCSW
  Director, Recovering from IPV through Strengths and Empowerment (RISE) Program, Department of Veterans Affairs
  "Recovering from IPV through Strengths and Empowerment (RISE): An intervention for patients who experience IPV and its implementation within you he Veterans Health Administration"
   
• Erin Stern, PhD 
  Senior Associate, Prevention Collaborative
  “Improving mental health of parents and caregivers as a strategy to prevent family violence: What does the evidence suggest?” 
   
• Tiara Willie, PhD, MA
  Bloomberg Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
  “Transformative Pathways: Prevention Strategies to Address Structural Determinants of Health and Violence for Black Women from Emerging to Middle Adulthood”
   
• Vandana Sharma, MD, MPH
  Research Associate, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  “Podcasts to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence: Leveraging low-cost technology and social networks in Somali refugee camps in Ethiopia”

Moderator:
Michele Decker, ScD, MPH
Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
 

Register

Looking for new approaches, this session focuses on supportive, accountable, and healing-centered models for engaging individuals who have caused violence in relationships.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026
10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Speakers: 

• Vijay Singh, MD, MPH, MS, FAAFP
  Clinical Associate Professor, University of Michigan Medical School
  “Male patients using intimate partner violence: prevalence and associations of primary care identification and response”
   
• Charvonne Holliday Nworu, PhD, MPH
  Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing
  “Interrupting Intimate Partner Violence through Expanded Crisis Line Support for Abusive Partners: A Three-month Pilot Evaluation”
   
• Tanisha Arena, BS, MS
  Executive Director, Arise for Social Justice
  “A Call for Change: An Intersectional and Compassionate Approach to Engaging Men in IPV Prevention”
   
• Robert Vines
  Violence Prevention Coordinator, University of Wyoming
  “Wyoming's SAFE Men: A Male Engagement Model that Works on Campuses”

Moderator:
Juan Carlos Arean, Ph.D.
Program Director, Futures Without Violence

Register 

As climate change intensifies displacement and instability, this roundtable explores the emerging linkages between environmental disasters and increased risk of intimate partner violence.

Wednesday, March 15, 2026
10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Register  

Speakers: 

• Ashley M. Ruiz, PhD, BSN, ADN, RN
  Assistant Professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
  “The Gendered Effects of Climate Change on Women's Experiences Navigating Environmental Disasters in the Southeastern United States”
   
• Arnab Dey, Dr.
  Postdoctoral Scholar, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
  “Associations between Heat and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from New Orleans, Louisiana” 
   
• Jennifer JeHorney, PhD, MPH, CPH
  Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Core Faculty at the Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware
  “Virtual service delivery: Lessons learned for workforce and service resilience”

Moderator:
Patricia Emmanuelli
Senior Manager, Training and Technical Assistance
Esperenza United

This session reveals new insight on emergent and understudied issues from economic abuse, financial insecurity, tech-facilitated violence, to sexual harassment. It interrogates systemic inequality as a root cause and consequence of intimate partner violence, and highlights economic support as a pathway to survivor safety.

Wednesday, May 13, 2026
10:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. CT / 1:00 p.m. ET

Register