Medical Center Conference Will Link Domestic Violence Researchers and Care Providers

A free conference on lessons learned from domestic violence research and the implications for victims will be held Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The conference—Bridging Research to Practice—will focus on establishing and strengthening collaborations between researchers, clinicians, and community agencies.

The University’s Laboratory for Interpersonal Violence and Victimization, State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, Alternatives for Battered Women, Inc., and Roberts Wesleyan College are the conference sponsors.

The conference is dedicated to the memory of Susan H. Horwitz, Ph.D., an associate professor of Psychiatry at the Medical Center and leader in the field of domestic violence who died in September, 2009. She was recognized locally and nationally for her efforts to form collaborations between researchers and practitioners. 

A series of lectures will make up the first day of the conference. The topics include an overview of research, sleep issues and domestic violence, and children and domestic violence. Amy Bonomi, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Ohio State University, Amy Barasch, executive director of the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and Michele McKeon, chief executive officer of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, are among the scheduled speakers.

The conference’s second day features workshops that address family court petition drafting, veteran status and intimate partner violence, findings from a new intimate partner violence mental health clinic, and a researcher track focusing on creating a scientific design and understanding human subjects protection issues.

The conference is free but registration is required. For more information, call Vicki Perry at 585-275-4293.