Katie M. Edwards, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work and Director, Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory (IVRL) at the University of Michigan.

Lecture

3:00 on Friday, April 25, 2025
NDSU A.G. Hill Building, Room 122

Reception to Follow

Lecture Title: Preventing Violence Among Youth Using Community Led Approaches

Discover how community-based participatory action research can be utilized to develop, implement, and evaluate programs among structurally minoritized populations. Dr. Edwards will provide case examples which demonstrate that strengths-focused, empowerment-based, culturally-grounded initiatives are promising approaches to preventing and responding to violence and fostering positive youth development.

Katie M. Edwards, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work where she directs the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory (IVRL). Dr. Edwards received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Ohio University. Before joining the U of M faculty, she was a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her work focuses on preventing and responding to sexual and related forms of violence among structurally minoritized populations using community-based participatory action research. Her current work is focused on program development and evaluation with Indigenous Youth and communities as well as LGBTQ2S+ youth in online spaces.

Recognized for her outstanding research, Dr. Edwards has been ranked among the world’s most influential researchers on the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List in 2021 and 2024. She has also received recognition for her outstanding mentorship of postdocs. Dr. Edwards has published over 220 peer-reviewed journal articles and secured over $23 million in research funding. Her research team includes early career and postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and community-based staff across the United States. Her expertise has led to appearances in major outlets such as The New York Times and CNN.

Beyond her research, Dr. Edwards contributes to the community. For example, she is on the board of the National Mentoring Resource Center (NMRC) and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America BIG Futures. She is a researcher collaborator of the Born This Way Foundation, serves as a consulting editor for Psychology of Violence and Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and has provided expert testimony in both criminal and civil cases.