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.