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Lisa M. Wexler

Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, and Research Professor, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research

Lisa M. Wexler

Lisa Wexler is a professor of social work and a research professor in the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan. She received her doctoral education from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and did her critical ethnographic dissertation while working full time as a tribal community organizer for suicide prevention. There, she developed insights and practical ideas in partnership with Indigenous Elders, community members (including young people) and service providers. Her federally-funded, participatory research program uses a variety of methods to engage family members, leaders, young people, service providers,and others in learning, reflecting and mobilizing to reducing suicide risk and promote youth wellness. Her program of research aims to (1) translate research into strategic, self-determined community action; (2) describe and amplify sources of strength in Indigenous communities; and (3) develop practical multilevel approaches to reduce youth suicide risk across the prevention spectrum.

Her current projects include the Family Safety Net, a clinic-based universal intervention to increase safe firearm storage in people’s homes (PI for R61MH125757; Subrecipient of CDC R49-CE-003085); a community mobilization approach to suicide prevention called PC CARES: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PI for R01 MH112458); and a Collaborative Hub that features a descriptive study, Alaska Native Community Resilience Study focused on community strengths correlated with a reduction in youth suicidal behavior and youth wellness (co-PI with Allen and Rasmus for U19 MH113138). This work uses a variety of mixed methods including intergenerational and digital storytelling, social network analysis, narrative analysis and community-level measurement to generate useful information for action. Her participatory research program is based in and developed with Indigenous communities, and can offer possibilities for other groups suffering from behavioral health inequities and/or desiring to re-orient programs and services toward community resources, cultural values and practices and support for families.

Research Interests/Focus

American Indian/Alaska Native Suicide Prevention; Indigenous Youth Resilience; Culturally-Specific Behavioral Health Services; Digitally-Enhanced Participatory Research

Contact Information

PhoneEmailRoomAddress
(734) 764-7806lwexler@umich.edu3838 SSWBUniversity of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 S. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Education

Year Degree   School
2005 PhD Social Work University of Minnesota
1996 MSW Social Work Florida State University
1991 BA University of West Florida

News

Year Description
2023 Wexler, L. Translating Research to Upstream Suicide Prevention Practice on People’s Own Terms: Theory and Outcomes of Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES). American Association for Suicidology, Portland Thursday, April 20th, 2023
2023 Building Community Partnerships for Community-Informed Research, Suicide Research Symposium. (with Drs. Cwik, Modock) Virtual. April 27, 2023
2023 Strength-based Approaches in Indigenous Research 2023 Alaska Indigenous Research Program: Promoting Resilience, Health and Wellness. May 12, 2023. 5th Annual Alaska Indigenous Research Program.
2022 Working Conference on Community, Peers, and Family Support. Michigan Center for Diabetes Translational Research. Facilitator for Panel 1: Community Approaches and Opportunities for Growth. (May, 2022).
2022 Wexler, L., Redwood, Johnson-Jennings. Building a Research Portfolio Discussion. Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (IRINAH). Seattle, WA.
2022 Wexler, L., Moto, R., Kirk, T. Alaska Regional Learning Community Gathering. Presentation to share insights and best practices with community members and health and social service administrators who are receiving Garret Lee Smith and Native Connections suicide prevention funding throughout the state of Alaska. February 16, 2022
2022 Wexler, L., Garnie, J., Kirk, T. Alaska Statewide Community Virtual Health Fair: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES). Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, March 17, 2022.
2022 Wexler, L. & Peter, E. Community Strengths as a Key to Supporting Youth Wellness. Alaska Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Institute Child, Adolescent & Family Behavioral Health Conference, April 11, 2022.
2022 Collaborative and Cultural Responsible Suicide Prevention Programming: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide at the Society for Prevention Research. June 3, 2022, Seattle WA.
2022 Keynote Suicide Prevention in Indigenous Communities, A Virtual Workshop, Webinar 3, National Associations Science Engineering and Medicine, June 10, 2022.
2022 A Community Level and Strength-Based Approach to Suicide Prevention, Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (with E. Peter, S. Rasmus, J. Allen). Virtual. July 22, 2022.
2022 Keynote Balancing Scientific and Community Knowledge To Mobilize for Wellness Native Children’s Research Exchange (NCRE)(with Lauren White). Denver, CO, September 15, 2022.
2022 Understanding the Specific Aims Page and Why it's So Important, Promoting Indigenous Research Leaders (with Paul Estabrooks). Grand Forks, ND, October 11, 2022.
2021 Wexler, L. Protective Factors and Community Strengths for Suicide Prevention. National Institute of Mental Health Round Table Series: Risk, Resilience, & Trajectories in Preteen Suicide Synthesis Workshop, June 15, 2021
2021 Wexler, L. (2021, October). Macro-Level Strategies to Prevent Suicide: Learning from Remote Alaska Native Communities. How to Build on Community Strengths to Reduce Risk & Increase Protection. Intervention Research in Mental Health, Session 1: Intervention Innovations for Depression and Suicide.
2021 Wexler, L., McEachern, White, L., Garnie, J., Moto, R. Translating Research to Practice: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide. Half-day workshop Aboriginal Mental Health Network (Canada). 27th Summer Program in Cultural and Community Psychology, McGill University, (3 hours) June 24, 2021.
2021 Wexler, L. (2021, February). Participatory Research Guest Lectures: Qualitative Research. Introduction to Research SSW.
2021 Wexler, L. (2021, March). Cultural, Community and Family Strengths to Reduce Suicide Risk. Measuring Risk and Protective Factors Across Multiple Domains; NIMH Roundtable 2.
2021 Wexler, L. (2021, March). Learning from Alaska Native Communities: Understanding and Addressing Suicide Risk Upstream and on Multiple Levels. The Science of Suicide Prevention Summit; Injury Prevention Center, UM.
2021 Wexler, L. (2021, March). Learning from Alaska Native Communities: Understanding and Addressing Suicide Through Risk & Protective Factors, esp. Community Strengths. Alaska Shared Risk + Protective Factors (SRPF), Quarterly Meeting.
2021 Peter, E.; Wexler, L., Rasmus, S., Allen, J., Larson, C.V., Apok, C. (2021, March). Knowledge Exchange with Greenland about the Alaska Native Collaborative Hub for Research on Resilience.
2020 Begun, F., Apala, A., Wexler, L. Developing a Universal safe firearm storage intervention for rural Alaska Native communities. Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens Symposium, 2020; Ann Arbor, MI. September 23, 2020.
2020 Sokol R, Bornheimer L, Tolman R, & Wexler L. Identifying Best Practices in Firearms Means Restriction for Youth Suicide Prevention. Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens Symposium, 2020; Ann Arbor, MI. September 23, 2020.
2020 Wexler, L. Stopping Suicide Part 3: A Public Health Approach. Boston University’s School of Public Health Dean’s Symposium; October 15, 2020.
2020 Wexler, L. (2020, November). Evaluation & Research to Document Outcomes from a Community-based Suicide Prevention Program. SW 619: Behavioral and Psychosocial Aspects of Health, Mental Health, and Disease.
2020 Wexler, L. (2020, January). Participatory Research with Alaska Native Communities: Wellness and Suicide Prevention. School of Social Work SW522 Basic Research Methods Courses (Organized by Katie Schutz, Lisa Fedina, Matthew Bakko: 2 sessions, 4 classes).
2020 Wexler, L. (2020, June). Collaborating with Alaska Native Communities to Prevent Suicide. Applied Research Methods for Youth Suicide Prevention. Youth Suicide Research Conference, Hunter College, NYC.
2020 Wexler, L. (2020, October). Suicide Prevention: What More Can Be Done? University of Delaware Clinical Science Brown Bag meeting.
2019 Rivkin, I., Lopez, E., Philip, J., Black, J., Filardi, E., Charlie, D., Salganek, M., Newman, J., Perkins, S., & Wexler, L. (May, 2019). Intergenerational Dialogue Exchange and Action: A model to promote wellness for Alaska Native youth. Poster presented at the One Health Research Conference of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.
2019 Rivkin, I., Charlie, D., Filardi, E., Black, J., Charlie, G., Lopez, E., Newman, J., Salganek, M., Philip, J., Nanouk, M., Haire, J., & Wexler, L. (2019, May). Struggles, strengths, and resilience in youth digital stories from the Intergenerational Dialogue Exchange and Action program. Oral presentation at the One Health Research Conference of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska.
2019 White, Wexler, Pungowiyi, and Roberta Moto. (2019, December). Results from piloting an innovative model to engage multiple key stakeholders in learning about suicide prevention research for strategic action in under-resourced rural indigenous communities. 12th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination & Implementation, Bethesda, MD.
2019 Wexler, L. (2019, November). Working with Rural and Remote Alaska Native Communities to Prevent Suicide on Multiple Levels. Institute for Social Research Speaker Series.
2019 Wexler, L. (December, 2019). New Universal Prevention Model to Engage Family Members in Lethal Means Restriction: Family Safety Net. Maniilaq Health Center, Kotzebue, Alaska.

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