Current Trainees
Postdoctoral Fellows
Deaweh Benson, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Benson’s research examines how intergenerational relationships shape youth firearm injury risk within the broader context of social and environmental influences. Her work centers youth development within extended family systems and aims to illuminate pathways to healing in communities disproportionately affected by firearm violence. She earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan (U-M). As a predoctoral trainee on the NIH T32 Developmental Training Grant, she investigated how systemic adversity influenced psychological and biological functioning—focusing primarily on Black adolescents and young adults, while including White youth to contextualize disparities. As a postdoctoral fellow at the U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, Dr. Benson will work under the mentorship of Drs. Katie Edwards, Daniel Lee, and Marc Zimmerman.
Chiara Cooper, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Cooper earned her PhD from the University of Edinburgh (UK) and her Master of Science from the London School of Economics. Her work is qualitative in nature and spans the disciplines of criminology, sociology and gender studies. Her past research has focused on intimate relationships, sexual consent, domestic violence, and coercive control. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, Dr. Cooper will be studying the implementation and outcomes of domestic violence restraining order firearm restrictions.
Mike Henson-Garcia, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods, Dr. Henson-Garcia’s research examines how identity and culturally grounded interventions can promote firearm safety behaviors among diverse firearm-owning populations. His dissertation research employed a parent-centered lens to understand and influence secure storage behaviors among firearm-owning caregivers in Texas.
He recently completed his PhD in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences with a secondary emphasis in Epidemiology at the UTHealth School of Public Health. In August 2025, he will join IFIP under the mentorship of Drs. Cynthia Ewell-Foster, Hsing-Fang Hsieh, and Alison Miller where he will continue his work on family-centered strategies to support firearm safety and reduce injury risk among children and adolescents.
Briana Scott, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Scott’s research is on comprehensive school safety, youth violence, and firearm injury prevention with a focus on equity and social justice in K-12 education. She earned her PhD in Education and Psychology and her Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Scott has been working in partnership with the Prevention Research Collaborative, National Center for School Safety, and Sandy Hook Promise Foundation since 2019. Starting July 2024, Dr. Scott will be working under the direction of Drs. Justin Heinze and Hsing-Fang Hsieh as faculty mentors.
Dorothy Stearns, MD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Stearns research has focused in areas of injury prevention, exposure control, health disparities. and epidemiology. She earned her MD from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and her Masters in Public Health from Emory University. Dr. Stearns completed two years of general surgery residency at Ohio State University prior to joining the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. Starting July 2024, Dr. Stearns will be working under the direction of Drs. Doug Wiebe, Rebeccah Sokol and Erika Newman as a faculty mentoring team.
Interns
Tazkira Ahad
Intern
Ms. Ahad is an incoming 1st-year in the Health Behavior Health Education Masters program through the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She graduated in May 2024 with a BA in Community and Global Public Health from the University of Michigan. She minored in Community Action and Social Change. Her interests lie in improving healthcare access and reducing death and injury, particularly in underrepresented communities.
Victoria Arce
Intern
Ms. Arce is a freshman undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Biology and Spanish. She is interested in pursuing a career in surgery and is passionate about issues regarding health equity and disparities. As an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, she will be working under Dr. Stearns.
Joshua Crook
Intern
Joshua Crook is an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, working for the National Center for School Safety. He is a senior pursuing a B.A. in Public Policy and a minor in International Studies. Joshua is passionate about studying how firearm violence impacts local communities and policy solutions that promote school safety. He is excited to contribute to evidence-based initiatives under the STOP School Violence Act program and the Michigan School Safety Initiative.
Lauren Denton
Intern
Lauren Denton is a rising junior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She is interested in public health issues such as firearm injury prevention and is particularly focused on understanding the root causes of the increasing firearm-related deaths in the U.S. Her interests include exploring evidence-based prevention strategies to help mitigate risk and improve community safety. As an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, she is assisting the Data and Methods Core of the CFVP Coordinating Center.
Kaitlyn Gastineau
Intern
Kaitlyn Gastineau is a rising Junior pursuing a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology. She is interested in how public policy incentivises and influences behavior. As an intern, she will work under Dr. Elyse Thulin’s projects aimed at exploring how Technology-facilitated reporting systems can reduce inter- and intrapersonal harm in youth populations.
Anay Halwasiya
Research Assistant
Anay Halwasiya is a Master of Science student in Data Science at the University of Michigan with a background in engineering and applied analytics. His academic and professional work focuses on using data science to understand and address real-world challenges through predictive modeling, statistical analysis, and system optimization.
Anay has led and contributed to multiple projects across sectors, including building risk prediction systems for hospitals, developing time-series models for environmental forecasting, and using graph-based approaches to study misinformation. He is particularly interested in applying data science methods to support public health, safety, and policy evaluation.
As a research intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, Anay is excited to contribute analytical insights that inform prevention strategies and help strengthen data-driven decision-making around firearm-related harm.
Sasha Kalvert
Intern
Sasha Kalvert is a 2025 summer intern with the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. She is a rising senior pursuing a B.A. in Sociology & Spanish with a minor in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences. In her role as an intern she is working under Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh studying firearm injury risks among Asian-Americans. Her areas of interest include harm reduction, community-based models of intervention, and investigating social determinants of health. Institutional transparency and access to information are also key areas of interests for Ms. Kalvert, which she pursues in her capacity as a reporter for The Michigan Daily’s investigative team and news podcast.
Zaida Pearson
Research Assistant
Julia Plawker
Research Assistant
Ms. Plawker just graduated with a B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience with Honors. In the fall of 2023 she will begin a Master of Public Health in the Health Behavior and Health Education Department at the University of Michigan. Ms. Plawker will be working with Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh on her project, Moving Upstream: Understanding Racism, Firearm Injury Risks, and Resiliency Among Asian Americans, to help run focus groups, develop a national survey of Asian Americans, and review the literature.
Sam Riordan
Intern
Ms. Riordan is a summer intern with the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. Sam earned a B.S. in Public Health Sciences within the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She is passionate in studying policy interventions on firearm violence and analyzing the root problems contributing to an increase in firearm injuries in the United States. Her interest in firearm violence sparked after attending Michigan State University for two years, where she was heavily impacted by the February 2023 shooting. In her role as an intern, she works under Brent Miller for the National Center for School Safety to identify best practices and evidence-based resources for the school safety community. Sam was also involved with IFIP through an independent study and CURIS- Public Health Advocacy.
Eileen Spiegel
Research Assistant
Ms. Eileen Spiegel is a senior undergraduate student in Public Policy at the University of Michigan’s Ford School, and she is minoring in the university’s environmental program. At the Ford School, she is able to research how different policies can affect varying state-level gun violence. She is a research assistant with the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention and works under Dr. Zeoli to address the intersections of firearm policies and domestic violence.
Alex Swirsky
Research Assistant
Ms. Swirsky is a research assistant at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. She is a rising junior studying Sociology on the Law, Justice, and Social Change track, after which she hopes to pursue a joint JD/MPP degree. She aims to eventually build upon her research experience to apply a sociological lens to the policy sector in order to help build a society that will empower and support its citizens.
Natalie Wilcox
Intern
Natalie Wilcox is a rising senior pursuing a B.A. in Public Policy and a minor in Gender and Health. She is an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, working under Mr. Holtz on the Michigan Firearm Law Implementation Program where she helps build ERPO implementation resources and studies the use of ERPOs in Michigan. She is passionate about the role public policy can play in reducing systemic inequities in gun violence.