Assistant Professor
Health Behavior and Health Promotion
Contact
Email: michaels.136@osu.edu
Phone: 614-355-5870
Pronouns: she/her
Dr. Nichole Michaels’ research interests center on preventing morbidity and mortality from drug overdoses, child maltreatment and other violent means. She is particularly interested in how these issues intersect and how the criminal justice system can both promote and hinder positive outcomes for individuals and families. Her lab values collaboration with community partners and is dedicated to promoting equity and social justice through the work they do with marginalized and often stigmatized populations. As a mixed methods researcher, Dr. Michaels strives to center the voices of the communities she studies and put a story behind the quantitative data that frames her lab’s mission.
Dr. Michaels earned her BA in English literature and theatre arts from East Carolina University and MPH and PhD in public health from The Ohio State University. She has worked in the field of injury prevention for more than 20 years, first as a health educator and policy expert and later as a researcher. Her primary faculty appointment is in the Department of Pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and she is a principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Overdose harm reduction, child maltreatment, firearm injuries, violence prevention, mixed-methods research, intersection of substance use, child maltreatment and the criminal justice system.
- PhD, Health Behavior and Health Promotion, The Ohio State University, 2016
- MPH, Health Behavior and Health Promotion, The Ohio State University, 2005
- BA, English Literature and Theatre Arts, East Carolina University, 2000
* Denotes student, mentee, or research staff in my lab
Hays HL, Spiller HA, DeRienz RT, Seidenfeld M, Michaels NL, Smith GA. Evaluation of the relationship of xylazine and fentanyl blood concentrations among fentanyl-associated fatalities. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2024;62(1):26-31. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2024.2309326. PMID: 38353935.
*Barrett NM, Michaels NL, Kistamgari S, Smith GA, Brink FW. Child maltreatment among victims of violent death: An analysis of National Violent Death Reporting System data, 2014–2018. Inj Epidemiol. 2023;10(1):63. doi:10.1186/s40621-023-00474-1. PMID: 38031196.
*Pemberton JP, Letson MM, Brink F, Wolf K, Kistamgari S, Michaels NL. Caregivers’ perceptions of child trauma symptomatology, stress, and child abuse disclosures. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2023;62(11):1323-1334. doi:10.1177/00099228231190740. PMID: 37560885.
*Samuel D, *O’Malley F, Brink FW, Crichton KG, *Duffy B, Letson MM, Michaels NL. Characterizing child maltreatment fatalities among child victims with disabilities in the United States, 2010-2019. Child Abuse Negl. 2023;144:106354. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.1063. PMID: 37517210.
*Vaishnav A, Smith GA, Badeti J, Michaels NL. An epidemiological study of unintentional pediatric firearm fatalities in the USA, 2009–2018. Injury Epidemiology. 2023 Jun 26;10(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s40621-023-00438-5. PMID: 37357309; PMCID: PMC10291813.
Letson MM, Brink FW, Daniels A, Thompson S, Wolf KG, Michaels NL. Implementation of SEEK in a children’s advocacy center: A process improvement initiative. Pediatr Qual Saf. 2022;7(4):e573. doi:10.1097/pq9.0000000000000573.
Becker S, Spiller HA, Badeti J, Funk A, Casavant MJ, Zhu M, Michaels NL, Smith GA. Cocaine Exposures Reported to United States Poison Control Centers, 2000-2020. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2022;60(7):827-837. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2022.2042011.
Crichton KG, Brink FW, Patterson KN, Michaels NL. Traumatic pediatric firearm injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Applied Research on Children. 2022 June; 12(2). doi: 10.58464/2155-5834.1479.
Michaels NL, Letson M. Child maltreatment fatalities among children and adolescents 5-17 years old. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2021;117:105032. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105032.
Michaels NL, Spiller HA, Badeti J, Sheftall A, Funk A, Smith GA. Benzodiazepine exposures among women of reproductive age in the US, 2004-2018. Human and Experimental Toxicology. 2021;40(11):1807-1816. doi: 10.1177/09603271211013431.