Lisa Wexler's research considers how health and disease are understood and enacted within a social and cultural context. Considering how different people identify, understand and address their "problems" can enable professionals to advocate for meaningful change as well as develop effective intervention projects. Dr. Wexler is particularly interested in learning how situated discourses, attitudes and beliefs, of both professionals and the people they serve, influence minority wellbeing.

Her work has focused on suicide and suicide prevention in an Alaskan Inupiaq community. She received a Fulbright Fellowship in 2015-16 for a project entitled “This is What I Wish You Knew,” which was aimed at raising awareness for indigenous people in Atlantic Canada to let their voices be heard. Dr. Wexler was invited to the project by Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS) researchers due to their interest in her Intergenerational Dialogue Exchange and Action (IDEA) research method. During her year as a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Wexler developed a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposal for submission to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP).