People of the Injury Prevention Center
Erin Bonar, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Associate Professor, Psychiatry, U-M Medical School
Sexual Violence Content Lead, Research Core, University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center
Biography
Dr. Bonar is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. She is the Sexual Violence Content Lead for the U-M Injury Prevention Center. Dr. Bonar’s research focuses on preventing negative outcomes associated with substance use among emerging adults (as well as adolescents and adults), including consequences such as sexual violence, injury, overdose, and transmission of HIV/STIs. Dr. Bonar also contributed to the 8-module Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention on edX in the Dating and Sexual Violence section. Dr. Bonar contributed to the U-M IPC Massive Open Online Course, “Injury Prevention for Children and Teens” in the Dating and Sexual Violence section.
Research Interests
Dr. Bonar investigates the links between substance use, risky behaviors, and negative health and social outcomes in vulnerable populations with special attention to the role of social cognitive factors. She is interested in developing and adapting interventions augmented by mHealth for prevention and treatment of substance use and related conditions. Specifically, she is interested in:
• Optimizing substance use interventions across community settings, including health care settings and tertiary substance use disorder treatment, particularly among emerging adults.
• Understanding and reducing substance use and concomitant risk behaviors (e.g., sexual/HIV, impaired driving, prescription opioid overdose), and related negative consequences (sexual assault, injury) among underserved populations.
• Employing technologies in the prevention and treatment of substance use to increase scalability and public health impact.