Meeta Banerjee, Ph.D., Michigan State University, Assistant Professor
Dr. Banerjee’s research examines the interaction between ecological contexts (e.g., schools, families, neighborhoods, communities and racial discrimination) and parenting practices and how these processes directly and indirectly influence psychosocial and educational outcomes. She is particularly interested how race-related processes in the family (e.g., parental ethnic-racial socialization, parents’ racial identities) influence adjustment in ethnic minority youth. Dr. Banerjee is particularly interested how race-related processes in the family (e.g., parental ethnic-racial socialization, parents’ racial identities) influence adjustment in ethnic minority youth.

Kimberly D. Becker, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Associate Professor
Dr. Becker’s research focuses on extending the reach and effectiveness of mental health interventions for youth and families. Her research to date reflects four interrelated pursuits: (1) understanding treatment engagement to help youth and families connect with and stay in treatment, (2) exploring the design of decision support tools to democratize and organize scientific knowledge and local data to empower youth, families, and mental health professionals in their own clinical decision-making, (3) enhancing workforce development through clinical supervision, coaching, and tailored training opportunities, and (4) expanding the mental health workforce to include care extenders (e.g., teachers, school nurses, paraprofessionals) to meet the growing demand for effective interventions. 

Michelle Brown, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Dr. Brown uses a developmental psychopathology framework to: (1) understand how interpersonal relationships influence victimized children’s risk for developing adverse socioemotional outcomes and (2) elucidate biopsychosocial factors that influence treatment outcomes for victimized children.

Dan Cooper, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Assistant Professor
The goal of Dr. Cooper’s research is to use innovative methods to improve the health and resilience of minoritized children affected by adversity (e.g., racism, traumatic events). Specifically, his program of research focuses on (a) using secondary data analysis to identify malleable risk and protective factors that can be targeted using prevention interventions and (b) evaluating the implementation of family-based prevention programs for minoritized children exposed to adversity. He is also beginning a new line of research that will focus on creating integrated prevention programs to jointly prevent child physical and mental health problems.

Sarah R. Edmunds, Ph.D., University of Washington, Assistant Professor
My research focuses on: 1) the “active ingredients” by which early interventions for ASD work; 2) how transdiagnostic factors such as challenging behavior or emotion dysregulation may moderate the effectiveness of these interventions; and 3) strategies for implementing these interventions in early intervention systems such that they are tailored to each context and support equitable access (e.g., training and consultation methods). For example, my research is helping identify the most effective components of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs), a group of early interventions for social communication challenges. Many NDBIs are parent-implemented. I am interested in whether prioritizing the “core” elements of NDBIs reduces family stress, increases provider and family buy-in, eases training and community dissemination, and improves child outcomes.

Kate Flory, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
Dr. Flory's research focuses on understanding outcomes associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and young adults/college students. Her research examines mechanisms that might explain why individuals with ADHD experience greater substance use and problems associated with use, more social and academic impairment, and more negative health and mental health challenges than those without ADHD. In addition, Dr. Flory is part of a team of colleagues from around the country who are developing and testing new cognitive-behavioral and health-focused (e.g., exercise) treatments for college students with ADHD. Finally, Dr. Flory is broadly interested in the epidemiology of child and adolescent emotional and behavioral health concerns and is involved with several research projects examining prevalence of ADHD and other mental health conditions among youth. Dr. Flory has received research funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

Nada Goodrum, Ph.D., Georgie State University, Assistant Professor
Dr. Goodrum’s research investigates parenting, family relationships, and child health among families affected by major stressors; community context and its influence on children and families; the intersection of trauma, HIV, and substance use and the intergenerational transmission of risk; family-based child health promotion and prevention of socioemotional and physical health problems.

Guillermo Wippold, Ph.D., University of Florida, Assistant Professor
Guillermo Wippold’s program of research focuses on understanding cultural- and context-specific strategies to increase health-promoting behaviors (e.g., physical activity, healthy eating, coping adaptively with stress and depression) among underserved communities and individuals. These strategies then translate into the implementation of tailored interventions to increase health-promoting behaviors among individuals in these communities. He currently is currently PI on 3 external grants and Co-I on 1 internal grant. Among those grants, he is currently funded (as PI) by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop, implement, and assess a barbershop-based, community-informed, peer-to-peer intervention to promote health-related quality of life among Black men in South Carolina.