Natalie Bonfine

Natalie Bonfine, Ph.D., is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), with a joint appointment as Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine. She holds Graduate Faculty status in the College of Graduate Studies. Her research focuses on mental health system collaboration with criminal justice systems, particularly addressing the overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness in these systems. She emphasizes jail diversion strategies, stigma reduction, and interdisciplinary care coordination.

Dr. Bonfine earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Kent State University (2013), with a focus on mental health and medical sociology. She also holds an M.A. (2005) and B.A. (2003) in Sociology and Psychology from Kent State. She has received notable awards, including the 2020 Primary Care Transformation Fellowship, 2018 Junior Faculty Award, and 2017 FAME Leadership Track Fellowship.

Her research interests include criminogenic risk assessment, mental health court effectiveness, and stigma resistance. Recent work explores sequential intercept mapping to improve community responses to mental health crises and evaluates interventions targeting systemic gaps in assisted outpatient treatment. She advocates for physician involvement in Crisis Intervention Team programs to enhance mental health crisis management.

Publications highlight her contributions to violence risk screening tools (RROVS), the Ohio Adversity and Resilience Study (SOAR), and cross-systems collaboration strategies. She is actively involved in educational initiatives to address mental health stigma among health professions students and in advancing policies to reduce criminal legal system involvement of vulnerable populations.