Grounded in Compassion. Driven by Care.
The RESPECT Lab is built on a foundation of values that guide not just our research, but how we show up for patients, communities, and each other.
Responsive Emergency Support for Psychological Escalation, Crisis, and Trauma
At RESPECT Lab, we study how emergency care systems can better respond to people experiencing behavioral health emergencies while promoting safety, dignity, and recovery. Our research spans the continuum from individual patient encounters to healthcare systems and community environments.
We develop and evaluate patient-centered interventions, including peer support programs that improve engagement, trust, and outcomes for individuals presenting in behavioral health crisis. We also use innovative methods such as system dynamics modeling to understand the complex factors that drive agitation, coercive interventions, workplace violence, and clinician well-being.
Through community-engaged, mixed-methods, and implementation-focused research, our goal is to create scalable, evidence-based solutions that improve behavioral emergency care, reduce harm, and advance health equity for patients, families, and healthcare teams.
What We Stand For
These principles shape every study we design, every partnership we form, and every role we create.
Social Justice
We are committed to dismantling inequities in emergency behavioral health care and advancing health equity for the communities most affected.
Psychological Safety
We cultivate environments — for patients and team members alike — where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and grow without fear.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Our team science model brings together physicians, nurses, social workers, EMS clinicians, and community partners to tackle complex problems together.
Inclusivity
We center the voices of those most directly impacted — patients, families, and frontline workers — in every aspect of our research.
Ethical Research
We uphold the highest standards of scientific rigor and ethics, ensuring our methods honor the trust that participants and communities place in us.
Patient-Centered Research
We maintain ongoing partnerships with patients, asking not just what we study but how our research can nurture and improve the lives of those we serve.
Sustainability
We design roles and programs that are sustainable for our hospital partners, building capacity that endures beyond any single grant or project.
Mentorship
We are invested in moving careers forward — providing learning opportunities, support, and pathways to progress for every member of our team.
Practicality to Bedside
Every project we pursue has a clear path to meaningful application in clinical settings — because research only matters if it reaches the patients who need it.