The Intimate Partner Violence Center for Implementation, Research, and Evaluation (IPV-CIRE) is an IPV Assistance Program (IPVAP) Innovation Hub, established in November 2020, in response to a Request for Applications put forth by the National Care Management and Social Work Program Office. The IPV-CIRE is located in and additionally supported by the Pain Research, Informatics, Multimorbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center. The IPV-CIRE is comprised of three Cores:
The IPV-CIRE is the first of its kind at any VA Medical Center.
We are recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to collaborate on research, innovation, and implementation of best practices for IPV and interpersonal violence prevention. CLICK HERE for more information.
Galina Portnoy, PhD
Director
Research Psychologist at VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Portnoy specializes in the study of IPV detection, prevention, and treatment, with a focus on IPV use (i.e., perpetration) and bidirectional IPV. Her other primary research interests include the intersecting areas of trauma, resilience, and relationship health. Dr. Portnoy is trained as a clinical and community psychologist and an implementation scientist. Her current work focuses on the development and evaluation of bidirectional IPV screening and treatment, and strategies for disseminating and implementing empirically supported IPV practices for Veterans in healthcare settings.
Steve Martino, PhD
Co-Director, Innovation and Implementation Core
Chief of Psychology at VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Martino has extensive expertise in the development, dissemination, and implementation of empirically supported treatments in community programs and medical settings, including within multisite trials. In the IPV-CIRE, Dr. Martino provides expertise related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of novel IPV screening, intervention, and training innovations.
Cindy Brandt, MD, MPH
Co-Director, Research Core
Professor of Emergency Medicine, Anesthesiology, and Biostatistics
Deputy Director of the PRIME Center
Director of the Yale Center for Medical Informatics
Dr. Brandt's research program focuses on the design, development, and use of informatics tools in the domain of clinical research, as well as health services research. In the IPV-CIRE, Dr. Brandt provides expertise related to using medical informatics to develop risk and prediction models of IPV use and experiences among Veterans and to inform screening and response practices within the VA healthcare system.
Candice Presseau, PhD
Associate Director
Co-Director, Evaluation Core
Research Psychologist in the PRIME Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Presseau has specific expertise in the phenomenology and treatment of trauma over the developmental life course. Her evolving program of research explores the intersection of systemic and cultural factors as they relate to risk and resilience among Veterans to inform program and intervention development.
Carla Stover, PhD
Investigator
Research Psychologist at VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Associate Professor at the Yale University School of Medicine Child Study Center
Dr. Stover's research interests are focused on the impact of violence and trauma (particularly family violence) on child development and the advancement of best practice interventions for children and families affected by such violence exposure. Dr. Stover's research with the IPV-CIRE focuses on fathers with co-occurring IPV and substance use.
Julie Yeterian, PhD
Investigator
Research Psychologist in the VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Dr. Yeterian's clinical and research background in trauma/PTSD and substance use disorders informs her approach to studying IPV. Within the Center, Dr. Yeterian is collaborating on projects focused on understanding the scope of bidirectional IPV among veterans and how best to treat veterans who use IPV.
Mark Relyea, PhD
Lead Statistician
Community Psychologist and Statistician in the PRIME Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Relyea's focus is on understanding how to prevent sexual assault and harassment and improve outcomes for survivors. His current research seeks to understand the frequency, consequences, and predictors of patients' harassment towards staff and other patients within healthcare systems and the utility of bystander intervention training to address patient harassment.
Skye Orazietti, MSW
Research and Operations Manager
Skye executes and oversees key research and administrative operations within the IPV-CIRE to ensure efficiency and to maintain high compliance standards. In addition to her specialization in the development and implementation of standard operating procedures and management of IRB protocols across research projects within the IPV-CIRE, she contributes to systems improvement and expansion initiatives. Skye has a strong background in clinical research with primary research interests in substance use disorder treatment and mental health. Her emergent interests are qualitative data analyses and program development.
Lauren DeMoss, MS, OTR/L
Health Science Specialist
Lauren received her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked in clinical research coordination for over 7 years. Prior to coming to VA Connecticut, she worked as a clinical research project coordinator at Brown University and the Providence VA Healthcare System. Lauren has a clinical background as an occupational therapist and is passionate about working on research with direct application to improving care. Lauren is responsible for coordinating multiple ongoing projects within the IPV-CIRE.
Sarah Walls, LCSW
Research Social Worker
Sarah Walls recently joined the IPV-CIRE team as a Research Social Worker. Sarah received her Master of Social Work at San Jose State University and has worked for the Veterans Health Administration for the past 8 years in various roles including therapist, Interpersonal Violence Assistance Program Coordinator, and Case Manager with the M2VA and Homeless Programs. Research and clinical interests include increasing DEI programming and interventions for Veterans, IPV use prevention, and trauma-informed practices.
Aliya Webermann, PhD
Co-Lead, IPVAP Program Evaluation
Investigator
Staff Psychologist at VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Clinical Instructor at Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Webermann's research focuses on military sexual trauma (MST), including the VA disability claims processed associated with MST, individual-level risk and resilience factors associated with MST and its mental health sequalae, and intersections of these topics with identity (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity). She co-leads the IPVAP Evaluation Core.
Elizabeth Coppola, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Elizabeth Coppola, PhD, is a VA Advanced Medical Informatics postdoctoral fellow and a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science at Yale School of Medicine. She is interested in understanding the impact of exposure to trauma and adversity throughout the life course from a risk and resilience perspective.
Joshua Price-Crist, MPH
Data Analyst
Josh is an Air Force Veteran with a background in social and behavioral health and clinical drug research. He holds an MPH in International Health and Development through Tulane University. Josh transitioned to public health after more than 10 years as a primary and secondary educator in science and music, having used this role to implement programs in personal nutrition, environmental health, sustainability, project-based service learning, and student-led community education in the New Orleans charter school environment. He addresses health disparity challenges from a social determinants and structural justice perspective.
