Gilbert conducts research to understand and address alcohol-related disparities. He is particularly interested in the ways that gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation shape drinking patterns, risk of alcohol use disorders, and use of treatment services. His current projects include an NIH-funded study to test an explanatory model of alcohol treatment disparities, a New Faculty Research Award from the College of Public Health to identify and describe the strategies people use to overcome alcohol problems when they don’t utilize treatment services, and an evaluation of Iowa’s social host liability law that’s supported by the Iowa Institute of Public Health Research and Policy.  An Issue Brief on underage drinking and social host prohibitions was released at a community summit in September 2018; a white paper on the topic is forthcoming (winter 2019).

A secondary line of research focuses on improving the health of Latino communities in non-traditional settlement states through participatory, action-oriented research. Working with the West Liberty Coalition, a community-academic partnership in Iowa’s first majority-Latino rural town, Dr. Gilbert led a community survey to identify strengths and health concerns. Here is the survey’s summary report in English and in Spanish.

Gilbert is a core faculty member of the Health Equity Advancement Lab (HEAL), which is housed in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health. HEAL brings together students, staff, and faculty who are interested in social justice to engage in research and extra-curricular learning opportunities.

Related IowaNow stories:
https://now.uiowa.edu/2019/02/ui-study-finds-women-seek-and-resist-help-alcoholism-different-ways-men

https://now.uiowa.edu/2017/05/ui-studies-how-problem-drinkers-quit-without-help

https://now.uiowa.edu/2016/06/does-discrimination-increase-drinking