Dr. Melissa Schaefer Morabito is an associate professor at University of Massachusetts Lowell in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies and an associate at the Center for Women and Work. She has an MSW from Columbia University and received her Ph.D. in justice, law and society from American University. She was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health-funded Center for Mental Health Services and Criminal Justice Research. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Morabito was a policy analyst at the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, where she focused on police response to social problems in the community. Her research interests include understanding the intersection between police and public health challenges such as mental illness, domestic violence and substance use disorder. Dr. Morabito has extensive experience working with police departments across the United States.
