Board of Directors

Professor
Founder and Director

Dr. Saint Arnault’s is a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan and holds degrees in Psychiatric Nursing and Medical Anthropology. Her research centers on gender, cultural and social influences on mental health, trauma recovery, and help seeking. She develops and tests help seeking and trauma recovery theory, and uses mixed methods to discover how distress experiences, culturally based meanings (such as stigma and sense of coherence), social support, and social negativity impact the help seeking journey. Her Clinical Ethnographic Narrative Interview (CENI) provides a transcultural method that allows people to explore the cultural and social influences in their search for health, and also promotes self-awareness and active engagement in the  help-seeking process.

Associate Professor
Secretary
Dr. Laura Sinko is a mental health nurse and sexual assault nurse examiner by clinical training. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan and is currently an Associate Professor at Temple University. Dr. Sinko’s research interests surround healing and recovery after gender-based violence and understanding socio-cultural influences of that process. Her specific area of focus is sexual violence. She has a passion for visual research methodologies and creative dissemination strategies to bridge the gap between science, practice, and the community.

Member at large
Associate Professor
Dr. Kleio Koutra is an accomplished Associate Professor in Social Work with extensive experience and a distinguished record in gender-based violence (GBV) research and interventions. Her work has been instrumental in exploring trauma recovery, emphasizing the cultural and contextual nuances of survivors’ experiences. Dr. Koutra has been part of numerous international collaborations, including the MiStory group, which amplifies women’s voices on trauma recovery. Her research has contributed to developing tools like the Trauma Recovery Rubric and Self-Assessment for Trauma Recovery Tool (START), ensuring a survivor-centered approach. Through her narrative and mixed-methods research, she has provided insights into pathways for healing, cultural adaptation of therapeutic interventions, and the role of social capital in trauma recovery. Dr. Koutra’s scholarship underscores her commitment to advancing global understanding and support for survivors of GBV.

Treasurer
Dr. Kita is an international scholar in the field of family violence, especially gender-based violence (GBV) and child abuse. Her major interests include bio-psycho-social recovery process after GBV and preventions for poly-victimization and intergenerational transmission of violence in family. Her research projects are ongoing in collaborations with international scholars, such as the U.S., Hong Kong and Norway.