Crosby Modrowski, Ph.D.
Biography
Dr. Modrowski, PhD, was mentored by Dr. Christopher Houck during her T32 fellowship. Her work focuses on posttraumatic stress and risk behaviors (e.g., substance use, self-injury, suicidal behaviors) among youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Modrowski conducted research related to trauma exposure and HIV risk behaviors among justice-involved adolescents. For example, she spearheaded an investigation of victimization profiles and the extent to which distinct profiles were associated with HIV risk behaviors (i.e., substance use and sexual risk) and self-injury in a sample of girls involved in the juvenile justice system. She also led an investigation of trauma exposure, posttraumatic risk behavior, and offending among detained and incarcerated youth. While on fellowship, Dr. Modrowski also contributed to the literature by publishing a trauma-focused research agenda related to better understanding the association between child welfare and juvenile justice system involvement. She also was accepted as a scholar in Lifespan/Brown’s Criminal Justice Research and Training Program.
Following her T32 fellowship, Dr. Modrowski received an appointment as an Assistant Professor in the DPHB at Brown. Dr. Modrowski has served as Co-Investigator of a systems-level intervention that aims to teach community mental health providers who serve justice-involved youth in evidence-based suicide prevention (R01MH129770, MPIs Kemp & Wolff). Additionally, she has served as the Director of the Rhode Island Family Court’s Court Improvement Program, directing several ongoing projects that assess the extent to which court procedures impact permanency outcomes for youth involved in the child welfare system.