Meet Our Core Faculty Members
Sherry A. Falsetti, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and the Associate Head of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Illinois, College of Medicine at Rockford (UIC-COM-R). She also serves as Director of Health Policy and Social Science Research. She is a highly accomplished trauma researcher, recognized for developing the Modified PTSD scale, an assessment tool for identifying individuals suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This validated measure has been used both nationally and internationally. She also developed a treatment for PTSD, Multiple Channel Exposure Therapy, to target PTSD symptoms and associated panic attacks. Dr. Falsetti has received several state, county, and federal grants including awards from the National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Disease Control, Department of Defense, Illinois Department of Public Health, and Winnebago. She has published peer reviewed articles and book chapters in the field of trauma, mental health, and medicine and presented at national and international conferences on her research.
Dr. Falsetti has received numerous awards for research, teaching, clinical work, and community involvement including her recent achievement, 2010 Rockford YWCA Women of Achievement, Professions Award. Prior to joining the UIC-COM-R, she served as Director of Training and Director of Clinical Operations at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Program of Research
- Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Influence of culture on doctor-patient communication
- Impact of wellness interventions
- Identification of trauma and PTSD in primary care
Research Services Provided
- Grant writing
- Grant consultation
- Workshops on trauma screening in primary care
- Workshops on assessment and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder
- Assessment and evaluation of county, state, and local mental health-related programs
Alesia O. Hawkins, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist and serves as the Research Director for the DFCM and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at the UIC-COM-R. She has been awarded grants and scholarships from the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, University of Illinois, and the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dr. Hawkins has been the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of her research, clinical work, and teaching including the Robert Magwood, Jr Award for Outstanding Service to Crime Victims. Prior to joining the UIC-COM-R, she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at the Medical University of South Carolina. She has published peer-reviewed articles and presented on violence exposure and mental health at national and local conferences.
Program of Research
- Identification of family and interpersonal violence and PTSD in primary care
- Mental health disparities among ethnic/racial minorities and impoverished communities
- Community violence and homicide survivorship
Research Services Provided
- Grant writing
- Community research development
- Prevention research
- Workshops and presentations on adolescent and adult violence exposure
Deborah Lischwe, MS, is the Associate Director of Health Systems Research, a unit within the Division of Health Policy and Social Science Research, Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Illinois-Rockford. She has extensive background in community health and health system planning. In recent years, she has assisted more than a dozen county health departments with “healthy community” studies.
Ms. Lischwe earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati in Community Health with a dual emphasis in health planning and epidemiology. Her graduate study was the outgrowth of Peace Corps work and breast cancer epidemiology research. Prior to her present position, Ms. Lischwe worked as a planner in the hospital/health system setting for 18 years. Most of her professional publications address ways to help organizations understand and improve community health. In addition to her membership in several professional organizations, she assists numerous school and community groups in a volunteer capacity.
Program of Research
- Community health indicators and needs
- Health disparities
- Health system analysis
Research Services Provided
- Community needs assessments
- Survey research
- County and small area prevalence estimates, incidence rates and other health indicators
- Consultation on health-related activities
Michelle Bunyer, MA, has been a research data analyst for Health Systems Research since 1998. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a MA in Clinical Psychology with a focus on children. Prior to joining Health Systems Research, she worked as a study coordinator at the Rush Institute on Aging in Chicago. Bunyer coordinated a study of caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients and a study of nutrition in an older adult community population and has been an evaluator for the Rockford public Schools’ 21st CCLC After School Program Grants for the last 10 years.
Program of Research:
After school program evaluation, healthy community surveys
Research Services Provided:
Community needs assessments, survey research, program evaluation.
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