Laurel Sharpless

Research Activities

Gender-based violence

Intimate partner violence

Adolescent dating violence

Intersectionality; mental health

Health equity

Health policy

Mixed methods

Laurel’s program of research focuses on implementing and evaluating structural and community-based prevention intervention efforts to improve the health and well-being of gender-based violence survivors. A key aspect of her work examines how restorative and transformative justice approaches impact the mental health of survivors. Laurel was awarded a National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health to support her dissertation, which examines the role of state-level restorative justice policies and their implementation on depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescent girls who have experienced dating violence, and differences by race and ethnicity.

Education