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.
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.
Summer Research Fellowship Training Program
Nathan Aguilar, PhD, LCSW
2026 Summer Research Fellow
New York University Silver School of Social Work
Dr. Nathan Aguilar is a Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Social Work. He utilizes a variety of qualitative approaches to examine the impact of gun violence on survivors, their family members, and community-based intervention workers, as well as how gang-affiliated youth use social media to express grief and loss. Drawing on nearly a decade of experience as a community and hospital-based violence intervention outreach worker in Chicago and Brooklyn, he co-creates scholarship with communities most affected by gun violence, grounding his research in lived experience.
Ayo Bodunde, BSN, RN
2026 Summer Research Fellow
University of Illinois Chicago, College of Nursing
Ayo Bodunde is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing and a psychiatric nurse with 13 years of clinical experience. Her research centers the lived experiences of survivors of firearm violence and their informal caregivers. Using community-engaged and narrative inquiry approaches, she partners with community organizations and a Community Advisory Board to ensure her work reflects the strengths and needs of those most impacted. As a trainee with the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, she is committed to advancing equitable, policy-relevant research that improves outcomes for individuals and families affected by firearm violence.
Allie Bond, PhD
2026 Summer Research Fellow
New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University
Dr. Allison Bond is an Assistant Professor at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at Rutgers University. She earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University, where her work focused on the intersection of suicide and gun violence prevention. Her research examines who dies by firearm suicide and the prevention efforts and interventions that can mitigate risk, including promoting secure firearm storage. She is committed to science communication to ensure that research reaches the communities most affected by firearm violence and suicide.
Julia Campbell, MPH
2026 Summer Research Fellow
University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health
Julia Campbell is a PhD candidate in the Health Behavior Department at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health. As a mixed methods researcher, her work focuses on public health approaches to violence prevention including intimate partner violence, sexual violence, firearm violence, and child maltreatment. She is particularly interested in the overlap between intimate partner violence and firearm violence, and the intersection of public health and legal systems. Her recent work examines the impact of firearm restrictions ordered via civil domestic violence protective orders on survivor safety and subsequent violent behavior in North Carolina.
Makala Carrington, DrPH, MDiv, MPH
2026 Summer Research Fellow
Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver
Dr. Makala Carrington earned her DrPH from the Colorado School of Public Health, Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School, and MPH from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She currently serves as a Public Health Officer in the United States Air Force and her professional research centers injury and violence prevention, faith-based community engagement, trauma and liberation theology, as well as Indigenous health. Her dissertation focuses on military firearm suicide and examines the untapped potential of military chaplains as partners in prevention. Her results explore structural drivers of risk among service members and identifies health policy strategies for prevention. Through her fellowship, Dr. Carrington aims to advance cross-sector partnerships that integrate trusted community leadership, culturally grounded approaches, and evidence-based policy at the systems level to strengthen firearm injury prevention efforts.
Elizabeth Choma, CPNP-PC, DNP
2026 Summer Research Fellow
The George Washington University School of Nursing
Dr. Elizabeth Choma is a pediatric nurse practitioner and nursing faculty at The George Washington University School of Nursing, where she also earned her DNP. Dr. Choma’s research centers on pediatric firearm injury prevention, with a focus on advocacy, community engagement, harm reduction, and trauma informed approaches. She is committed to developing interventions that reflect the realities families face across diverse communities and systems. Guided by community based participatory research, Dr. Choma works to co- create culturally responsive, equity driven strategies that prioritize resilience, safety, and empowerment.
Annalyn DeMello, PhD, MPH, RN
2026 Summer Research Fellow
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Cizik School of Nursing
Dr. DeMello employs mixed methods to examine psychosocial outcomes among adolescent and young adult survivors of firearm assault. Her interdisciplinary training in public health and nursing informed her previous work on the sociopsychology of firearm violence and clinician-led safe storage counseling. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Research at the Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where she earned her PhD. She earned her Master of Public Health from Yale University.
Patrece Joseph, PhD
2026 Summer Research Fellow
Boston University School of Public Health
Dr. Patrece Joseph is an Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. She is a community engaged and mixed methods researcher whose work seeks to prevent and respond to community violence. Her research spans three interrelated areas: (1) examining adolescent and young adult exposure to community violence, particularly firearm violence, (2) understanding the impact of exposure to community violence on adolescent and young adult mental health and substance use outcomes, and (3) community-engaged measure development. Dr. Patrece received her PhD in Child Study and Human Development from Tufts University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Meredith Klepper, PhD, RN, CPN, CNE
2026 Summer Research Fellow
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Dr. Meredith Klepper is a pediatric nurse, researcher, and educator. Their research is focused on strengths-based, racially informed, and family-centered approaches to improving health for transgender and gender diverse youth. During their doctoral studies, Meredith conducted community-engaged research with Black transgender women, many of whom had experienced interpersonal violence. They are interested in the role firearm injury plays in achieving health equity for transgender and gender diverse youth and how strategies may be tailored to meet this population’s needs.
Hsiu-Fen Lin, PhD, MSW, MA
2026 Summer Research Fellow
University of Central Florida School of Social Work
Dr. Hsiu-Fen Lin is an Assistant Professor of Social Work and a member of the Violence Against Women Research Faculty Cluster at the University of Central Florida. Her research primarily focuses on intimate partner violence (IPV) intervention and intimate partner homicide (IPH) prevention, stemming from over 10 years of postgraduate international social work practice experiences with women and children exposed to domestic violence. She is currently working on a research project that aims to identify firearm-related risk factors of pediatric homicide in the context of parental IPV. She plans to analyze secondary data from multiple existing datasets to identify distinct patterns in these homicide cases and to explore how the factors interact at different levels by adding comparison groups and using advanced statistical analyses.
Courtney Parent, MA
2026 Summer Research Fellow
Teachers College, Columbia University
Coming from her family’s multigenerational potato farm in northern Maine, Courtney’s research focuses on the health and wellbeing of farmers and farming families. She earned her master’s in developmental psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and is currently working on her EdD in health promotion and education from the same institution. As part of her dissertation work, she is interested in examining firearm accessibility and ownership in rural populations, especially in farmers, how it may pose as a risk factor for negative mental health outcomes, and how firearm safety measures can be implemented. Training at the University of Michigan in the Summer Research Fellowship Program will give Courtney the opportunity to engage with rural community members to prevent accidental and intentional injuries and/or fatalities at the hands of a firearm, in both youth and adults; she would then be able to “give back” to the community that raised her.
Ann Polcari, MD, MPH, MSGH
2026 Summer Research Fellow
The Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School
Dr. Ann Polcari is a Surgical Critical Care Fellow at the University of Michigan and will practice as a trauma surgeon on completion of her training. She earned a MS in Global Health from the University of Notre Dame prior to attending medical school at the University of Miami, where she also obtained an MPH. She recently graduated general surgery residency at the University of Chicago, where her clinical experience caring for patients affected by firearm injury motivated a commitment to prevention. Her research applies a public health lens to understanding the epidemiology and structural drivers of firearm violence, with the goal of informing evidence-based interventions and policy. She has a particular interest in leveraging advanced analytic methods for risk stratification, translating data into actionable insights that reduce firearm injury burden and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations.
Shaina Sta. Cruz, PhD, MSPH
2026 Summer Research Fellow
Centers for Violence Prevention, University of California, Davis
Dr. Sta. Cruz earned her PhD in Public Health at the University of California, Merced and has started her postdoctoral fellowship at the Centers for Violence Prevention at the University of California, Davis. With a background in social epidemiology and community organizing, Dr. Sta. Cruz is passionate about addressing violence in our communities, especially those underserved by our health, safety net, and social service systems. Dr. Sta. Cruz’s research examines how social policies, community-centered approaches, and cross-sector collaborations can improve mental health and violence outcomes.
Willie Williams, DrPH
2026 Summer Research Fellow
School of Allied Health Sciences, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Dr. Willie Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Science within the School of Allied Health Sciences at Florida A&M University. He holds a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree from FAMU and brings an interdisciplinary background in public health and social work, complemented by professional firearm certifications. His research examines how public health, social context, and community safety interact to shape health outcomes. He focuses on youth prevention and intervention programs that promote positive health behaviors among underserved populations, as well as the impact of the built environment and stigma on mental health engagement among African American boys and men. Dr. Williams also studies community-based approaches to preventing firearm-related violence and unintentional injury.
Ashley Wolf, MD, MS
2026 Summer Research Fellow
Pediatric Critical Care, University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital
Dr. Ashley Wolf is a pediatric critical care physician with an expertise in pediatric injury prevention and community partnered research. She completed pediatric residency at Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago followed critical care fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital, during which she also obtained an MS in Health Services at the University of Washington. She is the current co-director of the Chicago Gun Violence Research Collaborative and leads several firearm injury prevention efforts. She lives and works in Chicago, IL where she is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital.
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.
Ruben Aldaco
Intern
Ruben Aldaco is a rising senior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His academic and professional interests focus on epidemiology, injury prevention, and the promotion of equitable healthcare access. As an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, Ruben works with the National Center for School Safety (NCSS). In this role, he supports both the technical assistance and evaluation teams by conducting nationwide landscape analyses of state school safety policies and assisting with the analysis of comprehensive needs assessment surveys. Ruben is particularly interested in utilizing evidence-based research to address firearm-related disparities and improve safety outcomes in school environments.
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.
Cloe Barrau
Intern
Ms. Barrau is a junior in the U-M School of Public Health, pursuing a BS in Public Health Sciences. She is interested in pursuing a career in social epidemiology and is passionate about working to bridge health disparities, and decreasing firearm injuries throughout the country. As an intern for the Institute of Firearm Injury Prevention, she is excited to assist Dr. Alison Miller and Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh on the SAFE ARMS study.
Sarah Bucki
Intern
Sarah Bucki is a Master of Social Work candidate at the University of Michigan, on the Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, & Substance Abuse pathway. She graduated in May 2025 from Michigan State University with a BS in Psychology, minors in Cognitive Science and Human Behavior and Social Services. She is passionate about expanding trauma-informed care, violence prevention, and promoting trust and equity in care.
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.
Anders Hansen
Intern
Anders Hansen is a 2026 summer intern with the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. He is a rising senior at the University of Michigan studying Public Health Sciences with a minor in Biochemistry on a pre-medical studies track. In his role as an intern, he is continuing to work under Dr. Luke Hyde studying risk and resilience among youth and their families in order to inform prevention and intervention strategies, including firearm injury prevention.
Kailah Hawkins
Intern
Kailah Hawkins is a first-year master’s student in epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and received a BA in Public Health from the University of Michigan. She is primarily interested in using social epidemiology to analyze health trends and outcomes in minority populations. As an IFIP intern, she is focused on learning about community gun violence interventions and its mechanisms.
Jordan LaBarge
Intern
Jordan LaBarge is a rising junior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Education for Empowerment. She is passionate about learning how to create public policy solutions that can benefit communities and better understand the root causes of injuries related to firearms. As an intern, she is looking forward to working on the Michigan Firearm Law Implementation Program to generate research and awareness on the topic of firearm injury prevention.
Emily Moore
Intern
Emily Moore is a rising senior pursuing a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Crime and Justice. She is interested in pursuing law, with a focus on how legal frameworks can be applied to prevent firearm-related injuries. She is particularly passionate about intimate partner violence and its intersection with policy and legal intervention. As an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, she is assisting Dr. April Zeoli in studying the role of firearms in intimate partner violence, as well as the civil and criminal justice systems responses to intimate partner violence.
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.
Layla Richardson
Intern
Layla Richardson is a proud Flint native, born and raised in the “Fli” city. She is an alumna of Xavier University of Louisiana, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health Sciences with dual concentrations in Chemistry and Psychology. Layla is currently a first-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student in the Health Behavior and Health Equity Department at the University of Michigan. Her academic and professional interests focus on child health, community violence, and the intersection of Sociology and Theology within Public Health. She is especially passionate about advancing health equity and supporting communities that have been historically marginalized, particularly those that reflect her own lived experiences. She is excited to be part of the Interpersonal Violence Research Lab, as it aligns closely with her interests and provides an opportunity to further develop research and community-engaged skills that contribute to meaningful change.
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.
Nicholas Treloar
Intern
Nicholas Treloar is a second-year master’s student in Biostatistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from Hillsdale College. His professional interests include applying data analytics and machine learning methods to uncover meaningful patterns in complex datasets. Currently, as an intern at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, Nicholas is working under Dr. Hsing-Fang Hsieh on a longitudinal study aimed at reducing firearm injuries within Asian communities.
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.