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Alison J. Culyba, MD, PhD, MPH

  • Division Director, Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine
  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health, and Clinical and Translational Science
  • Director, Career Educational and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) Program

Alison Culyba is Director of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Public Health, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Culyba is Director of the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity Program (CEED) in the Institute for Clinical Research Education. Culyba's NIH, CDC, and SAMHSA funded research examines the role of social networks and environmental contexts in protecting youth from violence and translates findings into community-based interventions.

Culyba’s work models social networks to study associations between adolescent-adult connections and multiple forms of violence victimization and perpetration. Through an implementation science framework, she develops and tests community-based violence prevention interventions that leverage connections and safeguards youth. Culyba is PI of the CDC R01 Forging Hopeful Futures study examining the effectiveness of a racial, gender, and economic justice curriculum for youth through a community-based cluster randomized trial.

Culyba also investigates novel methods to study how physical and social environments shape violence risk. As Director of the Empowering Teens to Thrive hospital-based violence intervention program for assault-injured youth at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Culyba provides medical follow-up and linkage to support services to promote recovery following violent injury.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Academy of Pediatrics, 2007-Present
    • Fellow, 2018
  • Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine, 2012-Present
  • Society of Pediatric Research, Trainee Member, 2013-2017
  • Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, 2014-Present
  • Academic Pediatrics Association, 2014-Present
  • International Network for Social Network Analysis, 2020-Present
  • Society for Pediatric Research, 2022-Present

Education & Training

  • BA, English Literature with Honors, Brown University, 2001
  • MPH, Family and Community Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 2006
  • MD, University of Pennsylvania, 2007
  • Residency in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2007-2011
  • Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2012-2015
  • Advanced Research Fellowship in Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 2015-2017
  • PhD, Clinical Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, 2016

Selected Publications

Szoko N*, Khetarpal S*, Ragavan M, Chu K, Culyba AJ. Protective Factors Against Vaping and Other Tobacco Use. Pediatrics. 2021 Aug;148(2):e2020048066. PMID: 34312291.

Khetarpal SK*, Szoko N*, Culyba AJ, Shaw D, Ragavan MI. Associations between Parental Monitoring and Multiple Types of Youth Violence Victimization: A Brief Report. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.  2021 Aug 4. PMID: 34348500; PMCID: PMC9115795.

Bell L*, Bushover B*, Miller E, Culyba AJ. Staying in school: Connection, cohesiveness, and suspension. Academic Pediatrics. 17 Dec 2021, 22(6):1017-1023. PMID: 34929388

Rankine J*, Fuhrman B, Copperman E, Miller E, Culyba AJ. School Absenteeism among Middle School Students with High Exposure to Violence. Academic Pediatrics. 2022 Mar 25;S1876-2859. PMID: 35342032

Culyba AJ, Riley AT*, Corona G*, Miller E, Carley KM. Adolescent-adult social networks and experiences of violence among Black youth in neighborhoods with high levels of community violence. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2022 Oct;71(40):494-501. PMID: 35717325.

Szoko N*, Dwarakanath N, Miller E, Chugani CD, Culyba AJ. Psychological empowerment and future orientation among adolescents in a youth participatory action research program. Journal of Community Psychology. 2022 Sept 12; 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22935 

Wilson T*, Riley A*, Khetarpal SK*, Abernathy P, Booth J, Culyba AJ. Exploring the impact of racism on Black youth: A multidimensional examination of discriminatory experiences across place and time. Journal of Adolescent Health. Published online in advance of print Dec 5, 2022. PMID: 36481250

Khetarpal SK*, Jeong KH, Abebe KZ, Culyba AJ. Examining longitudinal associations between future orientation and multiple forms of youth violence perpetration. Journal of Adolescent Health, Accepted Feb 1, 2023. PMID: 36914448

Wilson T*, Fenner M*, Riley AT*, Culyba AJ. Understanding the Protective Role of Adolescent-Adult Relationships Among Minoritized Youths in Neighborhoods Impacted by Community Violence. Journal of Adolescent Research. Available online in advance of print April 5, 2023. 

Culyba AJ, Fuhrman B, Barker G, Abebe KZ, Miller E. Primary versus Secondary Prevention Effects of a Gender-Transformative Sexual Violence Prevention Program Among Male Youth: A Planned Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2023 Oct;38(19-20):11220-11242. PMID: 37358025

Research Interest Summary

Youth Violence Prevention

Academic and Research Interests

  • Adolescent health
  • Youth violence
  • Firearm injury prevention
  • Epidemiology
  • Social network analysis
  • Spatial analysis
  • Public health intervention research

Research Grants

1R01CE003502-01, Forging Hopeful Futures: A Racial and Gender-Justice Program to Reduce Youth Violence, 2022-2025. 

1H79SM084931-01, Community Thriving: Enhancing Resiliency of Communities after Stress and Trauma, 2021-2026. 

1U01CE003524-01-00, A community-centered collective efficacy intervention for prevention of community violence, 2022-2026. 

Empowering Teens to Thrive HVIP and Mentorship Program, 2023-2026.