Michelle Haikalis, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University’s School of Public Health and a faculty member in the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. Her research program focuses on violence prevention and alcohol-related risk among young adults, with a particular emphasis on understanding and strengthening bystander intervention in the real-world contexts where harm is most likely to occur.
Dr. Haikalis uses qualitative and quantitative approaches, including intensive longitudinal methods, to examine how momentary factors such as alcohol intoxication, social norms, relationship dynamics, and perceived responsibility shape whether people recognize risk, experience barriers, and choose to intervene. A core goal of her work is translating these insights into practical, scalable prevention strategies that increase timely, feasible bystander action to reduce sexual violence and alcohol-related harm.
In addition to her primary focus on alcohol- and sexual violence–related prevention, Dr. Haikalis has explored how bystander intervention principles can be adapted to other public health risks. She has collaborated on community-partnered work applying bystander-focused approaches to firearm injury prevention with 4-H, contributing to efforts to refine and disseminate prevention programming in real-world settings.
Dr. Haikalis earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She completed her clinical internship at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and subsequently completed a three-year NIAAA T32 postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
