Elyse Thulin

Elyse Thulin, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Michigan, jointly appointed in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity at the School of Public Health and the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. She is a leading researcher in firearm injury prevention, adolescent mental health, and the application of data science to public health challenges.

Education: Dr. Thulin earned dual PhDs from the University of Michigan in 2022—one in Health Behavior Health Education and another in Computational Science. She completed dual postdoctoral fellowships in Psychiatry at Michigan Medicine and in Data Science at the Michigan Institute for Data Science.

Research Focus: Her work centers on understanding and preventing firearm-related injuries among adolescents and emerging adults. She uses mixed-methods approaches combining behavioral science and data science to explore risk factors, gender and rural disparities, and the role of technology in both exacerbating and mitigating harm. Her current projects include evaluating anonymous reporting systems in schools and analyzing digital behaviors related to violence and mental health.

Grants & Projects: Dr. Thulin is Principal Investigator on multiple active grants, including:

• Characterizing Community and Collective Firearm-Related Homicides among Puerto Rican Men (2025–2026)
• Rigorous Examination of Anonymous Reporting System Data to Prevent Youth Suicide and Firearm Violence (2024–2026)
• Barriers and facilitators to adolescent use of technology-facilitated reporting systems (2023–2024)

International Experience: Before joining the University of Michigan, Dr. Thulin conducted mixed-methods research in Kenya and Sierra Leone, focusing on community health and violence prevention.