Dr. Michelle Lilly grew up as the daughter of a Marine Corps Veteran in Duluth, MN. From an early age, she knew she wanted to study psychology to work with populations for whom seeking therapy was stigmatized.

In 2001, Michelle attended Brown University where she studied Psychology and competed as a Division I athlete. After graduation, she worked at McLean Hospital in Boston, MA. At McLean, she was a research assistant in a lab that examined the impact of drugs and alcohol on functioning and worked part-time on an inpatient psychiatric unit for adolescents.
In 2005, she began my doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In five years, she completed a joint doctorate and internship before being hired into a one-year post-doctoral training fellowship focused on the treatment of trauma, depression, and anxiety.

During this time, she began publishing results of my dissertation, which focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female victims of partner violence. She was also fortunate to work with Dr. Nnamdi Pole on a project examining predictors of PTSD in retired police officers and co-author a paper on gender differences in PTSD among law enforcement officers.

In 2009, she began as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Northern Illinois University (NIU) where she continued to conceptualize, conduct, and publish findings on predictors of PTSD, depression, and physical health concerns among trauma survivors. It was during this time that she began to explore the mental and physical health of 9-1-1 telecommunicators, and in 2012, co-authored the first paper on the prevalence of PTSD in 9-1-1. After recognizing the impact of this work on the 9-1-1 field, she conducted a number of follow-up projects to extend study findings.

Over time, she has worked with a diversity of trauma-exposed populations with interests that span cognitive, metacognitive, and emotional processing factors that predict post-trauma functioning. To date, she has over 50 empirical articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals that explore predictors of post-trauma mental and physical health, as well as book chapters in The Resilient 9-1-1 Professional, Cultural Issues in Intervention with Women and Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence, and Mental Health Intervention and Treatment of First Responders and Emergency Workers.

In addition to her role as a professor at NIU, she is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in the state of Illinois. In 2018, she started a telebehavioral health practice called 9-1-1 Recovers, which provides evidence-based treatment for public safety personnel and their families. In 2019, she started Lilly Consulting, a firm that provides organizational assessment and intervention for public safety agencies.

Over the past five years, she has led and co-led trainings on mental health, wellness, stress management, resilience, and peer support to public safety audiences across all regions of the country. In collaboration with IPPFA in 2019, her lab at NIU was awarded a grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) to develop and disseminate the Saving Blues Lives training. The training provides education and skill development in the areas of PTSD recognition, risk signals for suicide, resilience, and peer support for law enforcement officers across the state of Illinois.


Sgt. Shawn Curry was born and raised in Metamora, IL. In 1996, his career started at the Woodford County Sheriff’s Department. He attended both the Police Training Institute Corrections Academy as well as the Police Training Institute Police Academy-graduating both in the top five. During his time at the WCSD, he performed several functions: corrections, court security, prisoner extraditions, and patrol. In 2003, he was awarded Woodford County Deputy of the Year. He served as WCSD FOP President and took an active role in serving on several political campaigns for both local and state officials.

In 2004, Sgt. Curry took employment with the Peoria Police Department. He served as a patrol officer in the cities most violent district. In 2007, he was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Unit-Violent Crime as a detective. While working in this capacity, he investigated cases such as criminal sexual assaults, robberies, suspicious deaths and homicides. He took part in over 100 homicide cases and hundreds of death scene cases. His homicide clearance rate was over eighty percent. He specialized in cold case murders, reopening and solving dozens. These cases were high profile cases and one even featured nationally on Dateline NBC.

He requested and was assigned in 2016 as a violent crime detective working through the Children’s Advocacy Center. There he specialized in extreme crimes against children. The typical case load was child rape cases, death, and extreme physical abuse. In the fall of 2018, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

During his time in law enforcement, he have received extensive training and skills in the following: Medicolegal Death Investigation, Homicide and Death Scene, Forensic Pathology, Arson Investigation, Sexual Assault and Deviance, Child Exploitation and Abuse, Aquatic Deaths, Elderly Abuse, Psychological Narrative Analysis, PTSD, Mental Health, Suicide Awareness and Prevention. His expertise is in interview and interrogation as well as child forensic interviewing.

In 2016, Sgt. Curry wrote the First Responders Suicide Prevention Act. This bill was introduced and lobbied for until signed into law in 2019. He also testified and lobbied for several police related issues including pension issues. In 2020, he was appointed to the Illinois Police Officers Pension Investment Fund. His appointment was endorsed by the police unions and made by the Governor’s office. Once on the board, he was appointed Chairperson. I also assisted in the development of the Saving Blue Lives training.

He have served in several leadership capacities: Vice President Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, Chair of the IPOPIF, President of the Peoria Police Pension Fund, Chair the of the Peoria Police PAC Committee, Legislative Chair of the IPPFA, Central Illinois Fatality Review Team, Crime Stopper Coordinator, and Central Illinois Arson Investigation Association. He has held union leadership positions in both PBPA and FOP.

In addition, He received PPD Officer of the Year 2010, Meritorious Service Award 2018, 5 Distinguished Service Awards, as well as several letters of commendation. He was awarded the IPPFA Person of the Year for his work on the First Responders Suicide Prevention Act in 2019.