UConn Unveils Sexual Violence Prevention Center

The University of Connecticut has unveiled a new research center that will focus on preventing sexual violence on college campuses, underscoring the University's commitment to this critical research area.

The new center, UConn's Center for Research on Sexual Violence and Empowerment, was a recommendation from UConn President Radenka Maric's 2022 Task Force for Combating Sexual Violence and Supporting Our Students. The taskforce consisted of 22 members comprised of students, faculty, and staff from existing campus organizations contributing to UConn's approach to preventing sexual violence.

Lisa A. Eaton, principal investigator at the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) and professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named director of the new center, which will be housed at InCHIP.

Under Eaton's leadership, the Center will advance UConn's research expertise in the area of sexual violence and develop interventions at the individual, community, and policy levels to combat sexual violence at UConn and beyond.

She plans to collaborate with students and faculty across departments and campuses to shape the Center's research agenda and evaluate and implement recommendations from the president's task force. Ryan J. Watson, an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, is an expert in sexual and gender diverse young adult health disparities and will serve as the Center's associate director.

The Center will also engage in scholarship activism, translating research findings to inform policy, practice, and interventions at the individual, community, and policy levels.

"There needs to be an important synergy between research and policy, and these findings must get to key stakeholders and impacted communities. A center like this cannot just be exclusively focused on research. The research has to be used to inform policy and it has to reach and engage college students," says Eaton.

The Center will be housed within InCHIP, joining four other centers including the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health; the UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media; the Collaboratory for School and Child Health; and the UConn Center for Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship (ARMS) in Gun Injury Prevention.

"Lisa is a world-renowned scholar of sexual health, stigma, and HIV prevention and treatment. She has an impressive research track record with over $16 million in external funding and more than 200 published papers since 2005. Lisa's research centers the voices and lived experiences of historically underrepresented populations in the United States. InCHIP is honored to welcome this critically important center and Lisa as Director," says InCHIP Director Tricia Leahey.

Eaton has been a principal investigator at InCHIP since 2011 and serves as the Associate Director of the Southeast HIV/AIDS Research and Evaluation Project and Associate Director of the Sexuality, Health, Intersectional Experiences (SHINE) Lab.

She began her studies at UConn in 2000 and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and her Ph.D. in social psychology. She completed her postdoctoral training in public health at Yale University and has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since graduate school.

With a history at UConn that stretches back to her undergraduate studies, Eaton brings a unique perspective to the Center and offers a deep understanding of the University's cultural trajectory.

"The prospect of directing this center prompted me to reflect on the experiences that I've had at UConn and the institutional memory that I've developed. Beyond being able to relate to the experiences that students are having, I know where UConn has been and I have a good sense of where we're going. I'm eager to partner with organizations on campus doing this work to expand UConn's research expertise related to sexual violence," says Eaton.