BBI welcomes two new team members, Elaina Peterkin & Michelle Schilling- Research Associates, that will work with the team evaluating the Psychiatric Advanced Directives (PADs) Innovation Project in California, which is designed to support people during a mental health crisis as well as during the recovery process.

Michele Dominique Schilling holds a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado Denver, where her academic research explored the impact of Orthodox religious institutions’ policies on women and LGBTQ+ persons, focusing on their rights, mental health, stigma management, and minority stress. For these studies, she used qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews and thematic content analysis.

Previously, she worked in film as a writer and director, telling stories about the experiences of women and LGBTQ+ youth within the family unit and the social world, focusing on issues such as the impacts of micro and macro marginalization on mental health. With her business partner, she ran a film production company in Los Angeles and worked as a writer and consultant for media and publishing companies. She also conducted research on policy, history, and mental health, as well as in-depth interviews, as part of her film work.
She is a Research Associate at the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University, where she is part of a team evaluating the Psychiatric Advanced Directives (PADs) Innovation Project in California, which is designed to support people during a mental health crisis as well as during the recovery process.

Elaina Peterkin obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Vassar College in 2019. During her time there she focused on implications of incarceration for Black queer women in the United States.

Elaina has joined the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University as a Research Associate to support BBI’s evaluation of new web-based technology supporting access and use of psychiatric advanced directives (PADs) by people with mental health challenges across seven California counties. Before accepting her role at BBI, Elaina worked as a research assistant at the Center for Critical Public Health in Alameda, California. She contributed to multiple projects including the Tobacco Harm Reduction study, the North State Smoking and Intoxication studies, and the Intoxicated Sexual Encounters study.