Overview
Sayre Wilson is a behavioral health researcher and public health educator whose work sits at the intersection of alcohol use, adverse experiences, and technology-driven intervention. Her research integrates mobile health tools, motivational interviewing, and trauma-informed frameworks to address alcohol-related harm among young adults, with an emphasis on scalable, digital approaches to harm reduction.
She contributes to multiple NIH- and SAMHSA-funded projects in Northeastern’s Ethanol, Drug, and Gambling Experimental (EDGE) Lab, where she develops and tests mHealth interventions, conducts motivational interviewing sessions and clinical assessments, and collaborates on study design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Her independent line of inquiry focuses on mobile mindfulness as a strategy for reducing alcohol use and impulsivity among trauma-exposed young adults. Her co-authored study on the “talking stage” in emerging adult relationships was featured in Cosmopolitan, PsyPost, and other outlets.
As a faculty member, she teaches Community and Public Health to undergraduate students, with a classroom philosophy grounded in equity-centered, trauma-informed pedagogy and active learning. She has presented her work at multiple national and international conferences, including the Research Society on Alcohol Scientific Meeting, and holds affiliated research positions with Fenway Health Institute, the Behavioral Health Equity Program at Boston University, the TRIBE Lab at Northeastern, and the Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research at Brown University.
Areas of Expertise
Primary: Alcohol and Substance Use Research
Additional: Mobile Health Interventions, Trauma-Informed Public Health, Community and Behavioral Health, Health Equity, Motivational Interviewing, Public Health Education
Keywords: alcohol use, mobile health, mHealth, adverse experiences, trauma, impulsivity, young adults, harm reduction, motivational interviewing, technology-based interventions, health equity, LGBTQ+ health, HIV prevention
Selected Publications
Wilson, S. E., Garcia, K., Fava, N., & Leeman, R. F. (2024). Examining the relationships among adverse experiences, impulsivity, and alcohol use: A scoping review of recent literature. Current Addiction Reports, 11(2), 210–218.
Wilson, S. E., Lavoie, H., Berey, B., Frohe, T., Rowland, B., & Leeman, R. F. (2024). Relationships between use of blood alcohol concentration-related technologies and drinking outcomes among young adults. Alcohol, Clinical, and Experimental Research, 48(11), 2188–2199.
Hardesty, M., Wilson, S. E., Wasserman, L., Young, S., Massey, S., & Merriwether, A. (2024). What are college students talking about when they say they’re “just talking?” Emerging Adulthood, 12(4), 372–386.
Wilson, S. E., Feltus, S. R., Brenman, A. M., Carey, K. B., DiBello, A. M., & Mastroleo, N. R. (2022). Comparing pre-COVID and post-COVID cohorts of mandated college student drinkers on alcohol and substance use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 83(4), 480–485.
Hatch, M. R., Wilson, S. E., Mastroleo, N. R., DiBello, A. M., & Carey, K. B. (2022). Values of college students mandated to an alcohol intervention: A qualitative examination. Substance Use & Misuse, 57(14), 2094–2100.
