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Associate Professor Amanda Gilmore is at the forefront of prevention at the intersection of alcohol use disorder, substance use and sexual violence.
ATLANTA — Since joining the faculty of the School of Public Health in 2019, Associate Professor Amanda Gilmore has launched the National Center for Sexual Violence Prevention at Georgia State University, shared her expertise with the Department of Defense and co-created a Ph.D. training program at the intersection of alcohol misuse and violence.
For these accomplishments and many others, Gilmore has been named the 2025 recipient of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) Early Career Research Award. The honor is given to one faculty member from among the more than 150 schools in the United States and abroad that comprise the ASPPH.
“Dr. Gilmore’s work is a reminder of the vital role that public health research plays in improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities,” said Dean Rodney Lyn. “She is dedicated to the development of integrated, evidence-based prevention and treatment programs while also preparing the next generation of researchers and practitioners.”
Translating Research Into Action
Gilmore has authored or co-authored more than 130 peer-reviewed research publications, but her impact extends well beyond academia. Her research focuses on both the prevention and treatment of a range of intersecting public health issues, such as alcohol use disorder, substance use, sexual violence, suicide and PTSD. She directs GSU’s National Center for Sexual Violence Prevention, which was founded to provide credentialing to prevention professionals in the military and now focuses on research to prevent sexual assault and bringing together our nation’s leaders in sexual violence research. In 2021 she briefed the Independent Review Committee on Sexual Assault in the Military, providing information that was used to help develop recommendations to combat sexual violence in the military.
“In two short years, the NCSVP has grown to a workgroup of 50 sexual violence prevention leaders,” said Distinguished University Professor Shannon Self-Brown, chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences. “Dr. Gilmore’s impact to the School of Public Health and to the field have been immense.”
Gilmore also developed a web-based program known as Positive Change©, which provides personalized feedback to target alcohol use, sexual assault victimization, sexual assault perpetration and bystander intervention. This program has been developed and tested for college students and adapted for active-duty sailors.
“What sets Dr. Gilmore apart is the impressive body of research she has conducted and her innovative leadership in addressing public health challenges,” said Laura Salazar, a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Public Health. “She has shown exceptional dedication to bridging the gap between research and practice, advocating for evidence-based policies and inspiring the next generation of public health leaders.”
Educating and Mentoring Tomorrow’s Leaders
In addition to being a highly productive and impactful researcher, Gilmore educates and mentors undergraduate and graduate students across the disciplines of public health, psychology, counseling and neuroscience. Four of the National Institutes of Health-funded postdoctoral fellows she has mentored and three of the pre-doctoral students she has mentored have gone on to faculty positions.
In 2024, Gilmore and Salazar received a highly competitive T32 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to establish a training program for Ph.D. students studying the prevention of alcohol misuse and its association with violence. The Alcohol Prevention Research on Violence, Equity and Novel Techniques (A-PREVENT) training program offers fellowships to up to 12 Ph.D. students per academic year to create a pipeline of emerging leaders.
“Dr. Gilmore demonstrates a unique ability to cultivate success in public health research mentees across a wide continuum of career stages ranging from undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students to postdoctoral trainees and early career faculty,” said Kathleen Baggett, an associate professor in the School of Public Health and director of the Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development, a university-level research center that houses the National Center for Sexual Violence Prevention and five additional centers.
— Story by Sam Fahmy