Julie Kafka, PhD, MPH

Recognitions

• Dean's Distinguished Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences, University of North Carolina (2023)
• Travel Award, National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention (2022)
• Lyndon Haviland Scholarship, American Public Health Association (2020)
• Jamie Kimble Scholarship for Courage, Jamie Kimble Foundation (2019)
• Honoree, inductee, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health (2018)

Research Interests

My research is dedicated to the prevention of violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV), firearm violence, and suicide. The goal of my work is to conduct applied research that can help support victim-survivors while also addressing problematic behaviors by the people who perpetrate harm. I utilize mixed methods approaches including integration of qualitative methods, text mining, natural language processing, quasi-experimental research designs, and epidemiological surveillance approaches.

Publications

• Graham LM, Kafka JM, AbiNader MA. Co-occurrence of Intimate Partner Violence and Suicide Mortality Among Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States. J Adolesc Health. 2025 Feb;76(2):283-290. PubMed PMID: 39453344
• Kafka, J. M., Ellyson, A. M., Santaularia, N. J., Adhia, A., Ortega, A., Shanahan, S., ... & Bowen, D. (2025). Disparities in court orders to relinquish firearms in civil domestic violence protection orders. Criminology & Public Policy.
• Dalve, K., Ellyson, A. M., Bowen, D., Kafka, J., Rhew, I. C., Rivara, F., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2024). Suicide-related behavior and firearm access among perpetrators of domestic violence subject to domestic violence protection orders. Preventive medicine reports, 37, 102560.
• Kafka JM, Schleimer JP, Toomet O, Chen K, Ellyson A, Rowhani-Rahbar A. Measuring interpersonal firearm violence: natural language processing methods to address limitations in criminal charge data. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2024 Oct 1;31(10):2374-2378. PubMed PMID: 38607336
• Kafka JM, Nestadt PS, Rosen EM, Karon S, Rush MJ, Trangenstein PJ. Federal Firearm Licensee Rates and Suicide in Maryland, 2014 to 2019. Am J Prev Med. 2024 Dec;67(6):867-877. PubMed PMID: 39254616
• Kafka, J.M., Schleimer, J.P., Toomet, O., Chen., K, Ellyson, A.M. & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. “Measuring interpersonal firearm violence: Natural language processing (NLP) methods to address limitations in criminal charge data.” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocae082
• Kafka, J.M., Rivara, F., Ross, R., & Rowhani-Rahbar, A. (2024). “Research needs related to firearm rights restoration.” Injury Epidemiology, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-023-00482-1
• Kafka, J. M., Moracco, K.E., Pence, B.W., Trangenstein, P.J., Fliss, M.D. & McNaughton Reyes, L. (2023). “Intimate partner violence and suicide mortality: A cross-sectional study using machine learning and natural language processing of suicide data from 43 states.” Injury Prevention. dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-044976
• Kafka, J. M., Moracco, K.E., Graham, L., AbiNader, M.A., Fliss, M.D. & Rowhani-Rahbar. (2023). “Intimate partner violence circumstances for fatal violence in the US.” JAMA Network Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.12768
• Kafka JM, Fliss MD, Trangenstein PJ, McNaughton Reyes L, Pence BW, Moracco KE. Detecting intimate partner violence circumstance for suicide: development and validation of a tool using natural language processing and supervised machine learning in the National Violent Death Reporting System. Inj Prev. 2023 Apr;29(2):134-141. PubMed PMID: 36600568
• Houang ST, Kafka JM, Choi SK, Meanley SP, Muessig KE, Bauermeister JA, Hightow-Weidman LB. Co-occurring Epidemic Conditions Among Southern U.S. Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in an Online eHealth Intervention. AIDS Behav. 2023 Feb;27(2):641-650. PubMed PMID: 35986818
• Blackwatters, C. R., Kafka, J. M., E. Moracco, K., Williams, D. S., & Corbo, A. M. (2023). ‘Hey Buddy, Give Me Your Guns:’Sheriffs’ Officers’ Strategies to Ensure Compliance with Domestic Violence Protective Order Firearm Restrictions. Journal of family violence, 38(3), 557-569.
• Alsinai, A., Reygers, M., DiMascolo, L., Kafka, J., Rowhani-Rahbar, A., Adhia, A., ... & Ellyson, A. M. (2023). Use of immigration status for coercive control in domestic violence protection orders. Frontiers in Sociology, 8, 1146102.
• Graham LM, Kafka JM, AbiNader MA, Lawler SM, Gover-Chamlou AN, Messing JT, Moracco KE. Intimate Partner Violence-Related Fatalities Among U.S. Youth Aged 0-24 Years, 2014-2018. Am J Prev Med. 2022 Apr;62(4):529-537. PubMed PMID: 34876319
• Boggs JM, Kafka JM. A Critical Review of Text Mining Applications for Suicide Research. Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2022;9(3):126-134. PubMed PMID: 35911089
• Kafka JM, Moracco KE, Williams DS, Hoffman CG. What is the role of firearms in nonfatal intimate partner violence? Findings from civil protective order case data. Soc Sci Med. 2021 Aug;283:114212. PubMed PMID: 34271368
• Kafka JM, Moracco KE, Young BR, Taheri C, Graham LM, Macy RJ, Proescholdbell SK. Fatalities related to intimate partner violence: towards a comprehensive perspective. Inj Prev. 2021 Apr;27(2):137-144. PubMed PMID: 32839248
• Scull TM, Keefe EM, Kafka JM, Malik CV, Kupersmidt JB. The understudied half of undergraduates: Risky sexual behaviors among community college students. J Am Coll Health. 2020 Apr;68(3):302-312. PubMed PMID: 30676913
• Kafka JM, Moracco KE, Barrington C, Mortazavi AL. Judging Domestic Violence From the Bench: A Narrative Analysis of Judicial Anecdotes About Domestic Violence Protective Order Cases. Qual Health Res. 2019 Jul;29(8):1132-1144. PubMed PMID: 30608215

Practice Locations

UCHealth Emergency Care - Anschutz Medical Campus (Hospital-based)
12505 E. 16th Ave
Aurora, CO 80045
720-848-9111