People

Ellen Benoit
Ellen Benoit, PhD
CDUHR - Associate Director, Transdisciplinary Research Methods Core
North Jersey Community Research Initiative - Principal Investigator
Email: e.benoit@njcri.org
Education
PhD, Sociology, New York University
BA, Communication Arts, Marist College
Research Interests
Racial disparities in substance use and HIV, community-engaged research, social determinants of health
BIO
Ellen Benoit is an Associate Director in CDUHR’s Transdisciplinary Methods Core and a Principal Investigator at North Jersey Community Research Initiative in Newark, NJ. She conducts NIH-funded qualitative and mixed-methods research on health inequities, particularly those related to HIV risk and substance use among marginalized groups. Her research agenda includes investigating the impact of childhood sexual abuse on adult substance use, health and mental health outcomes among Black and Latino gay and bisexual men. With Dr. Liliane Windsor at the University of Illinois and the Newark Community Collaborative Board (NCCB), Dr. Benoit conducts intervention optimization studies under the community based participatory research paradigm. She has been a member of the NCCB since it was organized in 2010.
Projects
Principal Investigator, COVID-19 Treatment Cascade Optimization Study. Active
Principal Investigator, Bath Salts & the Illicit Drug Market: Use, Violence & Health Consequences. Completed
Principal Investigator, Community Wise: An Innovative Multi-Level Intervention to Reduce Alcohol and Illegal Drug Use. Completed
Principal Investigator, Culture and HIV Risk in a Diverse Population. Completed
Principal Investigator, Feasibility of Recruiting Nondisclosing Black MSM/W for Drug Use/HIV Research. Completed
Principal Investigator, Heterosexual Black Females: Socialization and HIV Risks in Scripts and Practices. Completed
Principal Investigator, Preliminary Investigation of Behavioral Risks and Programming Factors Associated with Syphilis Infection. Completed
Principal Investigator, Understanding the Impact of Abuse on Men’s Risk Behavior. Completed
Publications

Recent

Downing MJ, Benoit E, Steen JT (2024).
Understanding Black and Latino sexual minority men’s perspectives on assessment of sexual history in diverse health care settings
Psychological Trauma [Epub 2024 Feb 29]. doi: 10.1037/tra0001662.

Benoit E, Downing MJ, Brown D, Coe L (2023).
Service provider interpretations of childhood sexual experiences among sexual minority men
Psychological Services, 20 (Suppl 1), 94-102. doi: 10.1037/ser0000638.

Downing MJ, Benoit E, Coe L, Brown D, Steen JT (2023).
Examining cultural competency and sexual abuse training needs among service providers working with Black and Latino sexual minority men
Journal of Social Service Research , 49 (1), 79-92. doi: 10.1080/01488376.2022.2157524. PMCID: PMC10723252.

Windsor L, Benoit E, Pinto RM, Sarol J (2022).
Optimization of a new adaptive intervention using the SMART Design to increase COVID-19 testing among people at high risk in an urban community
Trials, 23 (1), 310. doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06216-w. PMCID: PMC9009493.

Windsor LC, Benoit E, Pinto RM, Gwadz M, Thompson W (2021).
Enhancing behavioral intervention science: Using community-based participatory research principles with the multiphase optimization strategy
Translational Behavioral Medicine, 11 (8), 1596-1605. doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibab032. PMCID: PMC8367018.

Dr. Benoit's Google Scholar Profile