Dr. Ann Coker

Biography

Dr. Coker is a University of Kentucky Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She is an epidemiologist who focuses on improving women’s health through reducing the mental and physical health impact of interpersonal violence. With research colleagues, she has been consistently funded to conduct research since 1990.

Over the past decade, Dr. Coker has serves as the Research Director for the University of Kentucky’s BIRCWH mentorship program. Since coming to UK in 2007, she has served as the inaugural Endowed Chair in UK’s Center for Research on Violence Against Women, and now serves as the Executive Director for this Center. All her research at UK has focused on the impact of violence against women, its impact on health, and approaches to mitigate or prevent these related forms of violence using rigorous research designs. Sexual violence, including sexual harassment, has been a focus of our team’s intervention and prevention research, using engaged bystander strategies, for middle school, high school, and college levels. Most recently, her team has focused on efforts to reduce pregnancy-associated causes of maternal deaths and injuries.

Affiliation

• Professor, College of Public Health
  University of Kentucky

Dr. Hartley Feld

Biography

Dr. Hartley Feld received her PhD from the University of Kentucky in 2018 as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholar. Dr. Feld received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Kentucky in 2007 in Community and Public Health Nursing. She is ANCC board certified as a public health clinical nurse specialist and a Fellow in the Center for Inter-Professional Education. Dr. Feld is a graduate of the BIRCWH (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health) scholar program funded by the NIH, a mentored award where her research is focused on reproductive and perinatal health equity and harm reduction for people with a substance use disorder.

Dr. Feld is also the Chair of Global Affairs, with a focus on student engagement in global health. She creates and promotes numerous global learning opportunities for nursing students through Education Abroad. Additionally, Dr. Feld has expertise in social and structural determinants of health, gender-based violence, recovery capital, and health equity. She is an active member of the Perinatal Research and Wellness Center team and serves on the Lexington-Fayette County Board of Health.

Affiliation

• Associate Professor, College of Nursing
  University of Kentucky

Dr. Ayse Guler-Das

Biography

Dr. Guler-Das was trained as a midwife-nurse, worked as a Post Doctoral Scholar in the University of Kentucky Center for Research on Violence Against Women, and now she is an Assistant Professor in the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. Her program of research focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions that may prevent intimate partner violence and improve maternal health outcomes addressing social drivers of health. She is currently serving as a Co-Investigator on federally funded projects that focus on preventing maternal mortality addressing the role of social drivers of health including intimate partner violence, substance use disorders, and mental health conditions. She is an Associate in the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health scholar program funded by the NIH to train and support junior faculty to become an independent women's health researcher. She is also a Nursing Program for Advancing Training in Health and Social Determinants Scholar funded by the NIH. She aspires to make significant contributions to nursing science, healthcare, and women’s health.

Affiliation

• Assistant Professor, College of Nursing
  University of Kentucky

Dr. Annelise Mennicke

Biography

Dr. Mennicke joined UNC Charlotte School of Social Work in August, 2015 after receiving her Ph.D. in Social Work from Florida State University and where she received a number of scholarships and awards including the Cheryl Rowland Endowed Scholarship, two Institute of Family Violence Studies Scholarships, and the Joanna F. Gorman Scholarship.

Since joining the School of Social Work, Dr. Mennicke received the GADE Service and Leadership Award. Dr. Mennicke’s scholarly area of interest focuses on understanding the intricacies of domestic and sexual violence to inform prevention and intervention programs, particularly targeting diverse and disadvantaged populations.

Affiliation

• Associate Professor, School of Social Work
  University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Dr. April Schweinhart

Biography

Dr. April Schweinhart received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Louisville and works as a Research Scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Her work at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation has focused on applying mixed methods to a variety of health-behavior-related research projects including multiple efforts to evaluate and support substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery. Additionally, since 2017, Dr. Schweinhart has worked to coordinate prevention, screening, and response for women and children at risk of experiencing adverse impacts of violence.

Dr. Schweinhart takes an intersectional, community-based research approach to examine the impacts of violent trauma, working with Kentucky’s intimate partner violence service providers and community behavioral health providers. She is particularly interested in ways to intervene, evaluate, and lessen trauma’s negative outcomes for populations experiencing disparate levels of risk.

Affiliation

• Research Scientist,
  Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation

Dr. Ashley Simons-Rudolph

Biography

Dr. Simons-Rudolph promotes engagement through interdisciplinary, community, and policy-related research as a Research Scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and the Lead Implementation Scientist for Public Strategies. Dr. Simons-Rudolph has expertise in the topics of intimate partner violence, substance use, family formation, training and technical assistance, and multi-methods (qualitative and quantitative analyses). She has more than 22 years of experience conducting research and evaluation in practice-based settings. Dr. Simons-Rudolph brings a deep commitment to community-level work, participatory action research, and impacting change at the individual, community, and policy levels.

Affiliation

• Research Scientist,
  Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation