Diversity Statement
Due to witnessing the profound impact that violence has on the lives of women in both our clinical work and scholarly pursuits, we are passionate about continuing to pursue research on these experiences and associated outcomes. The focus of our research is particularly salient when considering underserved populations, including women of color and sexual and gender minority (SGM) women who disproportionately experience higher lifetime rates of intimate partner violence (e.g., Black et al., 2011), sexual violence (e.g., Rothman et al., 2011), PTSD (e.g., McLaughlin et al., 2018), and substance misuse (e.g., Grant et al., 2012; Schuler et al., 2019). Women in general, and marginalized women in particular, face negative health disparities in both access to care as well as culturally competent interventions, reinforcing mental health stigma and subsequent aversion to seeking evidence-based treatment. As such, we aim to adapt existing evidence-based assessment and treatment practices for marginalized and underserved populations of women. Our hope is that through nuanced recruitment procedures and community based participatory research (CBPR), our research will shed light on these disparities and inspire public health initiatives to systemically address these issues.
Within the MPWR Lab, we consistently recruit graduate and undergraduate students who represent a wide breadth of cultural backgrounds, including ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual minority statuses, among others. We strive to be as inclusive as possible to not only increase equity and elevate marginalized students’ positions of power, but also to provide richness to conceptualizations of research questions that comprehensively cover topics of interest. It is incredibly important to promote diverse perspectives in research that challenge traditional approaches and improve the rigor of clinical science. We also strive to create an environment where cultural humility is at the forefront of our clinical and research practices, where we consistently listen to others and educate ourselves about the populations and communities we aim to serve.
At our core, our lab values center around creating learning and scholarly environments in which everyone may feel welcome to freely and respectfully question, learn, and grow; we hope to continue to amplify the voices of marginalized and disempowered populations through rigorous, community-engaged research.
MPWR Lab 