Karen Oehme
Director, Institute for Family Violence Studies
Florida State University College of Social Work
koehme@fsu.edu
As a researcher at Florida State University since 1998, Karen Oehme has been the director of the Institute for Family Violence Studies since 2007, and the director of the the FSU Student Resilience Project since 2018. In 2011, she was named an FSU Distinguished University Scholar.
Oehme’s research and development team works to promote healthy individuals, families, and violence prevention across the lifespan. They build large-scale projects and specializes in interactive, web-based learning to promote research based knowledge, and has trained thousands of professionals in child protection, law enforcement, and victim services. The team's research interests all intersect with themes of trauma and resilience, and have been awarded multiple times by TaxWatch for saving taxpayer funds with innovative projects. The FSU Student Resilience Project was awarded the 2019 John L. Blackburn Award for Solutions to Campus Problems by the American Association of University Administrators. Oehme's scholarly work has been published in many journals, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, Stanford Law and Policy Review, Innovative Higher Education, and the Journal of American College Health.
Oehme received her law degree from Florida State University in 1987. She was formerly a staff attorney at Legal Services of North Florida and the Guardian ad Litem Program of the Second Judicial Circuit. She is a member of the Florida Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar.
Ann Perko, J.D.
Program Director of Research Dissemination
Florida State University College of Social Work
aperko@fsu.edu
Ann Perko is Program Director of Research Dissemination at the Institute for Family Violence Studies, after joining FSU in 2015. Perko creates communications and engages with foundation, corporate, and governmental representatives to seek support for Institute projects. Perko works with the Institute team to develop large scale training and research projects, including the FSU Student Resilience Project, and Successful Co-Parenting after Divorce. Perko advocates for the Institute’s family safety policies, including collaborating on amicus briefs on violence prevention research.
Prior to joining FSU, Perko developed and promoted family violence prevention public policy through service on the Florida Attorney General’s Statewide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team, Florida Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee on Parent Coordination and the Florida’s Governor’s Task Force on Domestic Violence.
Perko graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, with a J.D., with Honors in 1990, and from Duke University, with a B.S., in Biology in 1987. Perko represented the interests of low income families and domestic violence survivors in legislative public policy advocacy before coming to FSU. Perko served as Executive Director of Florida’s Statewide Legal Domestic Violence Hotline and Senior Family Law Attorney at Florida Legal Services, at Legal Services of North Florida. She is a member of the Florida Bar and the Supreme Court Bar of the United States.
Lyndi Bradley, M.S.W.
Program Manager, Institute for Family Violence Studies
Florida State University College of Social Work
lbradley2@fsu.edu
Lyndi Bradley is the Program Manager for the Institute for Family Violence Studies. Bradley graduated with a Master’s in Social Work and a certificate in Leadership and Executive Administration Development from FSU’s College of Social Work in May 2018. Bradley completed her final internship with the Institute, and upon graduation, she was hired for the Program Manager position. Bradley continues the tradition of program managers dedicated to advancing the mission of the Institute.
Bradley’s interests include anti-trafficking efforts, child welfare, trauma-informed services, and student resilience.
Additional Institute Staff:
Merina Cameron, Training Specialist
Kelly O'Rourke, MSW, Clearinghouse on Supervised Visitation Database Manager
Karey Johnson, Lead Progammer
Aakiem Philippe, Assistant Programmer