COBRE Co-Director Dr. Audrey Tyrka selected for Community Champion Award

We are very excited to announce that STAR COBRE co-director Dr. Audrey Tyrka was selected to receive the Community Champion Award for Sojourner House! Read below to learn more about Dr. Tyrka’s research and support for Sojourner House.

The Community Champion Award is for an individual who is an active supporter of Sojourner House’s mission and does work in the  community that is relevant to the agency’s mission to end domestic and sexual violence.

“Safety for body and heart are incredibly important parts of life, and many don’t have that.
Everyone deserves to feel safe and have a home. Aside from being helpful to healing, housing is also just a basic human right. You can’t start healing until you have your immediate needs met.” 
– Dr. Audrey Tyrka

A highly accomplished psychiatrist and researcher, Dr. Audrey Tyrka is best known for her groundbreaking work on childhood trauma and adversity. Recently named the Chair of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University, Audrey is the Founder and Co-Founder Co-Director of STAR COBRE, Miriam Hospital’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience. Sojourner House’s Vanessa Volz is a member of the Center’s Community Advisory Board, where she provides important insights and collaborative opportunities for the research Center.

One of Audrey’s research projects is a 12-year longitudinal study that examines the impact of childhood maltreatment (e.g., sexual/physical abuse, and/or neglect) and other adversities (e.g., witnessing domestic violence, community violence, trauma, stressors associated with poverty) on the biological and social processes that produce risk and resilience for mental and physical health conditions.

At Sojourner House, we know all too well that that trauma leaves lasting marks on all areas of a survivor’s life. Those who’ve experienced abuse frequently feel effects to their mental health, physical health, academic success, relationships, and more. We appreciate the work Audrey is doing to expand knowledge in the clinical sphere about this interwoven impact. 

In addition to her work as a psychiatrist, Audrey is also a painter and mixed-media artist, and in 2018, held a benefit show for Sojourner House. She sold a series of large-scale abstract oil paintings at the event and was able to raise more than $13,000 to support our work. Following this fundraiser, Audrey was inspired to get more involved in the work of Sojourner House and joined our Community Advisory Committee. Audrey was a member of this committee for several years and we’re grateful for the unique and valuable insight she was able to offer.