School of Social Work News

Lecturer Erin Martinez-Gillard spoke with Crazy Wisdom Journal about sexual health education and effective ways to talk about sex and relationships with young people. “Creating an open door for questions and conversations is imperative. This is never, in any role, a one-time Q&A,” said Martinez-Gillard.

Assistant Professor Ashley Cureton was quoted in the Boston Globe about the struggles of Ukrainian refugee families. The article explores how multiple school transfers can uproot vulnerable kids and compound the trauma and loss they’ve already experienced as refugees. “It is imperative that they can stay in one place, that they can build those relationships, that they can build a sense of community, and really feel like they have a place here in the U.S.,” Cureton said.

MSW students Maryam Syed and Maretta DeWitt have been named as Dow Sustainability Fellow by the Graham Institute. Designed to support the next generation of sustainability leaders in business, government, and nonprofits, the Dow Sustainability Fellows Program is among the most prestigious and productive graduate programs at U-M. Fellows are selected through a competitive process from a pool of applicants nominated by their academic units.

Research Fellow Greer Hamilton has been named to the 2023-24 cohort of the Health Equity Early Career Scholars Program, a collaborative effort of the Scholars Strategy Network and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program is structured to enable cohort members to disseminate their research findings among peers, senior scholars, policymakers and practitioners.

Professor Trina Shanks has received the 2024 Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Social Policy Award. Shanks will be presented with the award this weekend at the SSWR Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. in January.

Professor William Elliott III joined St. Louis Public Radio in a spirited conversation about college savings accounts and their potential. The conversation was prompted by St. Louis Public Schools’ recent decision to pause its partnership in the College Kids Savings Account program.

Professor Shawna Lee has been appointed as a new Co-Editor-in-Chief of Children and Youth Services Review.

“I am excited to take on the role of Co-Editor-in-Chief at Children and Youth Services Review. I look forward to working with the other editors to continue to increase the representation of BIPOC scholars, international scholars and junior scholars on the CYSR team,” said Lee. “One of the things that I appreciate about Children and Youth Services Review is its focus on children's experiences. The journal places children's experiences and the impact of policy and practice on children at the forefront. In so doing, CYSR centers youths' perspectives.”

Associate Professor Jaclynn Hawkins was appointed the director of the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Center for Health Equity Research and Training Center, effective January 2024. She has previously served as both associate director (2021-present) and acting director (2022-2023).

Hawkins received her PhD in Social Work and Sociology through the School’s Joint Doctoral Program in 2015 and joined the School faculty in 2018. She brings extensive experience in conducting research on health care disparities. Her research focuses on identifying the causes of physical health disparities between Black men and non-Hispanic white men, and creating and evaluating diabetes health interventions with an emphasis on addressing the unique needs of Black men. Much of her work focuses on the intersection of race, age and gender in diabetes diagnosis and self-management in Black men. She is the principal investigator of the Michigan Men’s Diabetes Project, the co-director of the Michigan Center for Diabetes Translational Research Pilot/Feasibility Program and an Institute for Implementation Science Scholar.

The Curtis Center is named in honor and recognition of the generous support of Dr. James Curtis, MD ’46,  and his wife, Vivian Curtis, MSW ’48, who shared a lifetime of collaboration blending medicine and social work. They provide ongoing inspiration to make positive change possible.

Hawkins succeeds Professor Daphne Watkins, who directed the center from 2018-2023.  Assistant Professor Anao Zhang is the new associate director.