News
2025
CHEER Presents at the American Psychology and Law Society Conference in Puerto Rico!
CHEER members Zoe Schultz and Alex Peddie presented their recent analysis of over 1.9 million cases of substance use treatment entitled Navigating Recovery: A Comparative Analysis of Individually Referred and Court-Mandated Substance Use Treatment. This presentation focused on differential outcomes in substance use treatment based on whether individuals were self referred or referred by the criminal legal system (CLS).
You can find out more about the APLS Conference here: https://ap-ls.org/conferences/#schedule
March 2025
2024
Lab Publication: The intersection of racial/ethnic disparities and systemic policies on suicide attempts among transgender and gender diverse individuals
This work, co-led by undergraduate alumni Srushti Untawale and current doctoral student Payton Adams, examining the association between TGD-related policies and suicide attempts and the moderating effect of race/ethnicity using large nationwide data. Initial results revealed a significant direct relationship among race/ethnicity, TGD-related policies (health and safety and nondiscrimination), and the likelihood of reporting a suicide attempt in the past 12 months. While controlling for covariates, race/ethnicity significantly moderated the relationship between both types of policies and the likelihood of suicide attempts in the past 12 months. The current results underscore that protective and inclusive TGD-related policies may be an important protective factor in reducing the likelihood of suicide attempts in TGD people across racial/ethnic groups.
Findings are now published in Translational Issues in Psychological Science here: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-41837-001
November 2024
Lab Publication: Uncovering the Hidden: Investigating Influences on Sexual Victimization Among 439 Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals Behind Bars
This work, led by undergraduate alumni Margaret Grundy, examined if the number of Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) policies implemented by each state was related to the likelihood of sexual assaults experienced by transgender and gender diverse people who were incarcerated. Results found a significant and protective relationship between PREA policy implementation and the likelihood of sexual assault.
Findings are now published in the Journal of Homosexuality here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00918369.2024.2392682
August 2024
New Year and New Lab Name!
The Community Health Equity and Justice Lab is now the Community Health Equity and Engagement Research Lab or CHEER Lab!
August 2024
Dr. Stenersen receives Outstanding Early Career Psychologist Award from APA Division 52 (Global Psychology)
Dr. Stenersen was awarded the Oustanding Early Career Psychologist Award from Division 52 - the Society for Global Psychology at the American Psychological Association Conference in Seattle.
See all Division 52 2024 Awardees
August 2024
Dr. Stenersen quoted in Washington State NPR Story
Dr. Stenersen was quoted in a recent KNKX story regarding terminations in substance use treatment based on her 2022 publication on the topic.
Read/Listen more here: https://www.knkx.org/government/2024-05-06/rickys-laws-namesake-died-kicked-out-of-drug-treatment-best-friend-lauren-davis
May 2024
Midwestern Psychological Association 2024
The Community Health Equity and Justice lab was ever present at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference 2024 in Chicago!
April 2024
up! Collective and Urban Light meet in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Dr. Stenersen and colleagues from the up! Collective and Urban Light Thailand met in February 2024 to discuss ongoing research collaborations in the area and the development of the collective’s goal towards pro bono participatory anti-violence research globally.
February 2024
National Multicultural Summit 2024
Dr. Stenersen and lab members Anjum Umrani, Sam Bumgardaner, and Maryah Burrell attended and presented at the 2024 National Multicultural Summit in Sante Fe, New Mexico!
January 2024
2023
SLU Undergraduate Maryah Burrell Receives APLS Volunteer Fellowship
Lab member Maryah Burrell recieved a volunteer fellowship to attend the American Psychology and Law Society conference in April 2024!
November 2023
Research Presented at Annual American Public Health Association Conference
SLU Medical Student Aniketh Naidu presented research from his work with Dr. Stenersen at the annual conference of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in November in Atlanta!
November 2023
Dr. Stenersen awarded Influential Scholar Award
Dr. Stenersen received the 2023 Influential Scholar Award from the Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars (GAHTS) presented at the Annual International Conference on Human Trafficking and Social Justice.
September 2023
Dr. Stenersen featured in Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars Newsletter
Dr. Stenersen and her work were featured as this issue’s Researcher in Spotlight for the Global Association of Human Trafficking Scholars (GAHTS) Summer newsletter. You can find the whole newsletter at GAHT’s website here.
August 2023
Hustle & Health Receives Support from NIDA’s JCOIN LEAP Initiative
Co-PI Dr. Katherine Kelton’s LEAP Fellowship through the National Institute of Drug Abuses’s JCOIN network awarded the Hustle & Health project additional funding to expand the project to include an additional focus on substance use and criminal legal policy on the lives of sex workers in the United States.
August 2023
up! Collective meets in Switzerland!
Dr. Stenersen joined colleagues and collaborators in Berne, Switzerland to discuss the development and launch of the up! Collective an effort committed to ending violence and exploitation by amplifying the voices of survivors, practitioners, and community members by creating shared resources and conducting global community-responsive research that embodies the values of partnership, equity, and action. To see more about the collective’s work visit their website at https://up-collective.org/ and more about the work of the Collective’s parent organization up! International at https://up-international.org/
July 2023
Dr. Stenersen featured in Saint Louis University Meet The Researcher Series
Dr. Stenersen discusses her lab’s research and focus on research in service to communities and the power of community-informed and created data!
June 2023
Anjum Umrani and Irelan Fricke at the American Psychological Society Conference in Washington, D.C. - May 2023
Kicked Out: Disparities in Treatment Non-Completion Due to Termination by Substance Use Facility
Payton Adams and Srushti Untawale at the Diversifying Clinical Psychology Conference Online - April 2023
Transphobia Kills: The Impact of Legislation on Suicidal Thoughts, Plans, and Attempts Among Transgender People
Payton Adams at the American Psychological Society Conference in Washington D.C. - May 2023
Disparities in Dementia Diagnoses: Big Data Analysis on Individual and State-Level Factors
Students Present Research at National Conferences!
Meg Grundy at the Annual Conference of the American Psychology and Law Society (APLS) in Philadelphia - March 2023
The Impact of Individual Differences and Transgender-Related PREA Policy on the Sexual Assault of Transgender and Gender-Diverse People in Prison
Lab Work Recieves 2 Research Grants from Saint Louis University!
Beaumont Research Grant - Awarded to Dr. Stenersen and Co-PIs Dr. Katherine Kelton and Maria Meinerding to support a qualitative study to understand the impact of health policies on the lives and wellbeing of sex workers - the Hustle & Health initiative.
Presidential Research Fund (PRF) - Awarded to support the collaboration between Dr. Stenersen and Dr. Katherine Luking in their work to understand the influence of gender incongruence and support on development and mental health using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study
May 2023
Sugaring Presentation at the Missouri Partners in Prevention Conference
So grateful to Partners in Prevention for inviting us to do a session titled “The Rise of Sugar Dating on Campus: What College Counselors Need to Know” for an amazing audience of over 50 higher education professionals and providers!
April 2023
Sugaring on Campus Training Awarded Grant from American College Counseling Association!
The lab was awarded the American College Counseling Association’s Research Grant to support the development and presentation of a training for college counselors to educate and promote de-stigmatization of sugaring and sex work amongst students on campus .
February 2023
