The Chat with Leaders event is a student tradition at the SRCD Biennial Meetings. This event provides a forum for students to interact with senior scholars who have central roles in the field of child development and the Society. Various sessions are available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Up to five graduate students will be seated at each senior scholars’ table to share conversation and a meal. Before the meeting, these young scholars will have the opportunity to send one or two questions to the senior scholar with whom they are scheduled to meet.
Chat with Leaders registration coming late November - early December
Please note that the fee for Chat with Leaders is $25 per attendee and is non-refundable. You must register for the SRCD 2025 Biennial Meeting to participate in Chat with Leaders. This event is only open to Student and Early Career attendees.
One ticket per registered attendee. For inquiries, please email scholar@srcd.org.
Navigate the Chat with Leaders Schedule:
Thursday Lunch: May 1, 2025 - 11:50 am - 1:20 pm CT
Michael Cunningham
Michael Cunningham holds the academic rank of Professor at Tulane University; and he has a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Psychology and the undergraduate program in Africana Studies. He also serves as the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research in Tulane University’s Office of Academic Affairs. Dr. Cunningham is a developmental psychologist with a program of research that focuses on racial, ethnic, psychosocial, and socioeconomic processes that affect psychological well‐being, adjustment to chronic stressful events, and academic achievement among African American adolescents and their families. He uses mixed methods in his research projects that includes the study of gender‐specific patterns of resilience and vulnerability in urban African American participants. Dr. Cunningham has received external funding from several sources including the National Science Foundation, The National Institutes of Health, The Mellon Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and The U.S. Department of Education.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Health, Growth, Injury, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Sex, Gender, Social Policy, Social Relationships
David Purpura
David Purpura is a professor of Human Development and Family Science at Purdue University and the Director of the Center for Early Learning which is an interdisciplinary research, practice, and policy center. His research is broadly focused on early mathematics learning from preschool through elementary school and contextual and cognitive factors that affect successful development. Much of his ongoing grant funded work from federal, state, and foundation agencies focuses on designing and evaluating instructional tools that meet the needs of individual children and families and neatly fit into existing school and home activities. He work also incorporates an emphasis on broader school readiness skills, preschool evaluation, school readiness, dual language learners, language and literacy, and the home learning environment.
Key Research Interests:
Education, Schooling, Language, Communication, Out-of-School Time, Prevention and Interventions, School Readiness, Childcare, Technology, Media and Child Development
Jennifer Lansford
Dr. Jennifer E. Lansford is President-Elect of SRCD and the S. Malcolm Gillis Distinguished Research Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. She is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on how culture and family-level factors interact to influence human development. Her research informs understanding of the etiology of health-compromising and risky behaviors from childhood to adulthood. Dr. Lansford leads the Parenting Across Cultures Project, a longitudinal study of children, mothers, and fathers from nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). She has consulted for UNICEF on the evaluation of parenting programs in several countries and on the development of a set of international standards for parenting programs. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.
Key Research Interests:
Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Policy, Social Relationships
Ximena Franco-Jenkins
Ximena Franco-Jenkins, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, the Co-Director of the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), and the Early Childhood Portfolio Lead at NIRN. She has more than 17 years of experience in applied research, primarily with ethnically diverse children and families, Dual Language Learners (DLLs), and Multilingual Learners (MLs) within school and community settings. Her work integrates children's socio-emotional development and educational and family environments. She aims to develop culturally robust assessments and support the implementation of evidence-based practices. Franco-Jenkins currently co-leads an IES-funded study examining associations between the language of instruction and academic outcomes in Spanish-English dual-language academic settings. Her work also involves policies and practices related to state quality rating and improvement systems for early childhood. Franco-Jenkins currently serves on the Finance and Audit Committee of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Language, Communication, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare
Kathleen Corriveau
Dr. Kathleen Corriveau is a professor at Boston University and the director of the Social Learning Laboratory. Her research focuses on social-cognitive development of trust in early childhood, bridging ideas from developmental and social psychology and applying them to educational settings. Dedicated to enhancing school readiness for all children, Dr. Corriveau is a former NaED/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow, and currently holds a $10 million grant from the Templeton Foundation to form the Developing Belief Network, an international network of researchers interested in the cross-cultural development of religious cognition. She is the coeditor of The Questioning Child: Insights from Psychology and Education. She has received numerous awards, including Fellow from the Association for Psychological Science and American Psychological Association. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation (including an NSF CAREER award), the Templeton Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Psychological Association.
Key Research Interests:
Cognitive Processes, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Positive Youth Development, Social Cognition
Su-hua Wang
Su-hua Wang was a first-gen student, who moved from Taiwan to the U.S. for graduate study and received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her doctoral research involved experimental work on infant cognition and ethnographic work on family storytelling with toddlers. She is a Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her current research examines how early learning is shaped, in diverse ways, by children’s participation in cultural practices and their interaction with caregivers and cultural materials such as toys, books, and technology. She is the co-founder and director of UCSC’s New Gen Learning, an interdisciplinary research consortium for studying the strengths that children from racially and/or linguistically marginalized backgrounds bring to learning. Her work has been funded by NIH, NSF, and the Spencer Foundation.
Key Research Interests:
Attention, Learning, Memory, Cognitive Processes, Language, Communication, Perceptual, Sensory, Motor, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Technology, Media and Child Development
Qing Zhou
Dr. Qing Zhou is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of Culture and Family Study Lab at University of California Berkeley. Her research focuses on cultural, family, and temperament influences on children's executive function, socio-emotional, and academic development from preschool to young adulthood. Her team has conducted longitudinal studies of parenting and socioemotional development of Chinese children in Asia and Chinese American and Mexican American children in the U.S. She was a recipient of the Foundation for Child Development Young Scholars Award, and her research has been funded by the National Institute of Health (USA). Dr. Zhou currently serves as an associate editor of Developmental Psychology and a consulting editor of Child Development, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, and British Journal of Developmental Psychology. She is currently the Co-Chair of Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Publication Committee and the Chair-Elect of SRCD Asian Caucus.
Key Research Interests:
Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social, Emotional, Personality
Kathy Shum
Dr. Shum earned her B.Sc. in Human Biology, an MSc in Physiology from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Hong Kong. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong, where she also serves as the Director of the Master of Social Sciences Program in Educational Psychology. Inspired by her personal and professional experience working with children and families, her research is dedicated to the study of language and socioemotional development, with a specific focus on children with autism and ADHD. Her research program also examines parenting and parent-child interaction as key factors in children’s socioemotional development. Dr. Shum has recently been awarded the HKU Rosie Young 90 Medal for Outstanding Young Woman Scholar in recognition of her outstanding research and scholarship, and distinguished contributions to the University and the community.
Key Research Interests:
Attention, Learning, Memory, Developmental Disabilities, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions
Nirmala Rao
Nirmala Rao is Serena H C Yang Professor in Early Childhood Development and Education and Chair Professor of Child Development and Education, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Her research has focused on the development of psychometrically robust and culturally sensitive measures of early childhood development and the quality of Early Childhood Education, early educational policy, evaluation of early childhood programs, and culture, policy and pedagogy in the early years. Professor Rao has published widely and is on the editorial board of premier scholarly journals. She has served as an Associate Editor of Child Development (2013-2021) and been a co-chair of panels at SRCD biennial meetings. She has participated in high-level international meetings and regularly provides expertise and consultancy for the UN and its associated agencies. She has received awards for both research and teaching. Furthermore, she has also had significant administrative leadership roles at HKU.
Key Research Interests:
Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, School Readiness, Childcare, Social Policy
Margaret Caughy
Margaret O’Brien Caughy, Sc.D. is the Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Family Health Disparities in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia. Dr. Caughy’s research is focused on how familial processes such as supportive parenting and ethnic-racial socialization support healthy development among Black and Latinx children experiencing economic instability, racism and discrimination, and sociopolitical stress. She is particularly interested in how culture shapes parents' socialization practices. She is Principal Investigator of the Dallas Project on Education Pathways (DPREP) funded by NICHD following a sample of over 400 Black and Latinx children from 2.5 years to 7th grade. Dr. Caughy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University, a Masters of Education degree in Human Development from the University of Maryland, and a Doctor of Science degree in Maternal and Child Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Key Research Interests:
Cognitive Processes, Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare
Adam Winsler
Dr. Winsler is professor of applied developmental psychology at George Mason University. His over 150 publications examine bilingual language development/education and academic achievement among ethnically diverse, dual-language learners and immigrant children. He also studies the long-term effects of preschool programs, school readiness, the arts and child development, and children's private speech and self-regulation among typically developing children and children with ADHD or autism. His books include Scaffolding Children’s Learning: Vygotsky and Early Childhood Education (1995, NAEYC), Private Speech, Executive Functioning, and the Development of Verbal Self-Regulation (2009, Cambridge) and Understanding Variability in Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, and Cognition: A Multi-Layered Perspective (2022, Routledge). He has over $4 million in research funding including from the NEA and IES. Dr. Winsler served as the editor-in chief of the journal, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, for 10 years, and is a frequent reviewer and editorial board member for multiple journals.
Key Research Interests:
Cognitive Processes, Developmental Disabilities, Education, Schooling, Language, Communication, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare, Social Policy, Technology, Media and Child Development
Qi Wang
Qi Wang is Professor of Human Development at Cornell University. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University. Her research examines the mechanisms underlying the development of a variety of social-cognitive skills in the context of culture, focusing particularly on autobiographical memory. Wang has also pioneered research to examine the impact of the Internet and social media as a cultural force on memory, self, and psychosocial functioning. Her research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Agriculture, and National Natural Science Foundation of China. Wang frequently publishes in scientific journals and in volumes of collected works. Her single-authored book "The autobiographical self in time and culture" (Oxford University Press, 2013) is regarded as the definitive work on culture and autobiographical memory. Wang is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, and Chairperson of SRCD Asian Caucus.
Key Research Interests:
Attention, Learning, Memory, Cognitive Processes, Family Context and Processes, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Cognition, Technology, Media and Child Development
Frosso Motti
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi is Professor Emerita of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She received the Distinguished International Alumni Award from the College of Education and Human Development of the UofM, and the 2022 ISSBD Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Research and Theory in Behavioural Development. She is the 2022 Chen Yidan Global Fellow of the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. She was President of (a) the European Association of Personality Psychology, (b) the European Association of Developmental Psychology, (c) the International Consortium of Developmental Science Societies, and member of the GC of SRCD. She is currently the President-Elect of ISSBD. She studies, through the lens of a resilience developmental framework, the adaptation of adolescent immigrants and refugees. She has presented the social policy implications of her work at Working Groups of the European Parliament.
Key Research Interests:
Developmental Psychopathology, Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Natasha Cabrera
Natasha J. Cabrera, Ph.D., is Professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland. Dr. Cabrera’s research focuses on father involvement and children’s social and cognitive development; adaptive and maladaptive factors related to parenting and cultural variation in ethnic minority families; and, the mechanisms linking early experiences to children’s school readiness. Dr. Cabrera s the co-editor of the Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 2nd Edition and Latina/o Child Psychology/Mental Health. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Monographs of SRCD and received the 2009 NCFR award for Best Research Article regarding men in families. In 2015, the National Academy of Sciences appointed her to its committee on parents of young children; in 2016, she was a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar; and, in 2017 she was a Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, visiting scholar, Germany. She is co-PI at the National Center for Research on Hispanic Families and Children.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, School Readiness, Childcare
Gabriela Stein
Gabriela Livas Stein is Chair and Professor of the Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. Broadly, her research uses developmental psychopathology and cultural-ecological frameworks to investigate the impact of culturally relevant factors on the development of psychopathology for minoritized youth and their families. Her community-engaged work focuses on resilience, familial cultural values, discrimination, racial-ethnic socialization, and coping, as well as prevention and intervention using culturally relevant interventions and increasing mental health care access for underserved populations. She has obtained funding from NIDA, NIMH, PCORI, and WT GRANT. She has served as the Vice President of Programming for the Society of Research on Adolescence, as a co-chair of the Ethnic Racial Issues Committee of the Society of Research on Child Development, and a past chair of the Latinx Caucus of the Society of Research on Child Development.
Key Research Interests:
Developmental Psychopathology, Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Monica Tsethlikai
Monica Tsethlikai, Ph.D., is an enrolled member of the Zuni (A:shiwi) Nation. She is currently an associate professor in the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. She incorporates a strengths-based focus on the role cultural pride and engagement play in shaping cognitive development and well-being in American Indian children. Her recent publications have examined the protective nature of caregiver's cultural connectedness for urban American Indian children's mental health, and the development of mental health and executive functions in relation to toxic stress (measured by caregiver report and cortisol levels in children’s hair). She also contributes to research on a culturally grounded parenting intervention for urban American Indian families with colleagues at Arizona State University. Dr. Tsethlikai received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in Psychology and Japanese. She earned her doctoral degree at the University of Kansas in Psychology – cognitive and quantitative.
Key Research Interests:
Cognitive Processes, Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Friday Breakfast: May 1, 2025 - 11:50 am - 1:20 pm CT
Eleanor Seaton
Dr. Eleanor K. Seaton is a Professor in the Psychology department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Seaton is a developmental psychologist, and an international expert on racism-related experiences, racial identity, and mental health among Black youth. Dr. Seaton’s research documents the impact of racism on Black adolescents’ mental health using prospective cohort studies, ecological momentary assessment techniques, qualitative interviews, and analyses of nationally representative data sets. Dr. Seaton has increasingly focused on early adolescence in order to understand the intersection of pubertal development, race-ethnicity and gender among Black children and adolescents. Dr. Seaton is a former co-host of a television segment, titled Break it Down on AZ PBS where she discussed how racism impacts various facets of society. Dr. Seaton tends to journal, travel, bake desserts, shop for luxury handbags, read, watch movies and dance to Chicago style house music when relaxing.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Cynthia Osborne
Cynthia Osborne is a Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She is the founder and executive director of the national Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, an academic research center that translates the science of the developing child into state level policies with the strongest evidence base of effectiveness. Osborne is a 2023 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow and has also co-authored reports for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Building an Agenda to Reduce the Number of Children in Poverty by Half in 10 Years and Exploring the Opportunity Gap for Young Children from Birth to Age Eight. Osborne holds a Ph.D. in demography and public affairs from Princeton University, a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Master of Arts in education from Claremont Graduate University.
Key Research Interests:
Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, School Readiness, Childcare, Social Policy
Rebecca White
Rebecca White is a Professor in the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University (ASU). Their program of research, which examines Latina/o/x/e adolescents’ development within cultural, neighborhood, and family contexts, has been funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, the National Institutes of Heath, and the National Science Foundation. Rebecca has published work that examines the intersecting implications of residential segregation and cultural adaptations for youth development in numerous outlets, including American Psychologist, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, and JAMA Pediatrics. They enthusiastically engage in mentoring emerging scholars. They have served on numerous editorial boards, most recently as the Interim Editor in Chief of Child Development Perspectives. Rebecca trained in general studies and American Sign Language at New River Community College, in human services counseling at Old Dominion University, in public health at University of Arizona, and in family and human development at ASU.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Fernando Salinas-Quiroz
Dr. Fernando Salinas-Quiroz (they/them) is an Assistant Professor at Tufts University's Child Study & Human Development Department. Dr. Salinas-Quiroz is affiliated with Harvard's SOGIE Health Equity Research Collaborative and serves multiple roles in the SRCD, including co-founder of the SOGIE Caucus and member of both the Latinx Caucus Steering Committee and International Affairs Committee. They serve on the board of Trans formative Schools in NYC. Recognized as a National Researcher in Mexico, they previously held a full professorship at the National Pedagogic University. Dr. Salinas-Quiroz earned their Ph.D. in Psychology from UNAM, where they were awarded the "Alfonso Caso Medal" as the most distinguished graduate of the program and the National Award "Silvia Macotela" for the best dissertation. They also hold Postgraduate Diploma in Parent-Infant Psychotherapy and a Master's in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Clinical Psychology from Ibero-American University.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Methods, History, Theory, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Sex, Gender, Social Relationships
Amanda Coleman
Amanda Coleman is Deputy Division Director of the Division of Child and Family Development (DCFD). Amanda works closely with the Division Director providing strategic leadership and management across DCFD’s portfolio of research. She also oversees OPRE’s internal efforts to embed equity into research and evaluation. Amanda joined OPRE in 2012 and served as a SRCD Fellow, Social Science Research Analyst, and Senior Social Science Research Analyst in OPRE before her current appointment. In these roles, she initiated and led projects on early care and education and early childhood home visiting. In particular, she managed a systematic evidence review of early childhood home visiting models, several descriptive studies of Head Start and Early Head Start, and projects on home-based child care supply and quality and early childhood systems integration. Amanda holds a B.A. from Howard University and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare, Social Policy
Deborah Johnson
Dr. Deborah J. Johnson is an MSU Foundation Professor in Human Development and Family Studies and Eco-community Psychology. Dr. Johnson received the Senior Mentor Award in 2019 from the Society for the Study of Human Development (SSHD). Her research explores racially and culturally related development, parental racial socialization and coping, and cultural adjustment from early childhood through emerging adulthood, among domestic, immigrant (Sudanese Refugees), and international children and youth (Australia, Southern Africa). Her current research collaboration explores the nuanced racial socialization patterns of Black community-based families. Emerging research involves a follow-up of Black/Latine collegians navigating their educational context. Recent books include, Slaughter-Defoe, D. T., Stevenson, H., Arrington, E., & Johnson, D.J. (Eds.) (2011). Black Educational Choice in a Climate of School Reform: Consequences for K-12 Student Learning and Development; Fitzgerald, H., Johnson, D.J., Villarruel, F., Qin, B. & Norder, J. (Eds.) (2019); Children and Prejudice, Johnson, D.J. & Chuang, S. (Eds.) (2022); and (Re)Formation and Identity: among Immigrant Youth: Intersectionality of Development, Culture and Immigration.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Bernadette Sanchez
Bernadette Sánchez is a Professor of Human Development & Learning in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is an expert on the roles of race, ethnicity, and mentoring relationships in the positive development of urban adolescents of color from low-income communities. Dr. Sanchez’s work been recognized with awards that include the Distinguished Fellowship from the William T. Grant Foundation in 2017, the Public Voices Fellowship and the Ethnic Minority Mentoring Award from the Society for Community Research and Action. She has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation and others. Dr. Sánchez is also a member of the Research Board for the National Mentoring Resource Center. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Fairfield University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Community and Prevention Research from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Out-of-School Time, Prevention and Interventions, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Matteo Giletta
Matteo Giletta, Ph.D., is associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at Ghent University (Belgium). His broader research interests center around the study of social relationships and stress exposure in adolescence. Specifically, in his work he examines (a) the interplay between peer relations (e.g., bullying, friendships) and adolescent development of internalizing problems and (b) the impact of cognitive, emotional and biological stress responses on adolescent mental and physical health. He utilizes a variety of methodological and analytic approaches, including Ecological Momentary Assessments, multi-wave longitudinal designs as well as lab-based paradigms. He has been PI and co-investigator in a number of large-scale projects funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the European Research Council, and he is current part of the editorial board of the Journal of Research on Adolescence.
Key Research Interests:
Biological Processes: Psychophysiology, Developmental Psychopathology, Social Relationships, Social, Emotional, Personality
Rachel Farr
Dr. Rachel H. Farr (Professor of Developmental Psychology, University of Kentucky) conducts research on diverse families, particularly adoptive and LGBTQIA+ parent families in the U.S. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For over 15 years, she has directed a longitudinal study about parental sexual orientation and child, parent, and family outcomes among adoptive families. Supported by the William T. Grant Foundation, Rachel also studies racially, economically, and geographically diverse youth with LGBTQIA+ parents. She publishes in top-tier developmental psychology journals, such as Child Development and Developmental Psychology, and receives national media attention (e.g., New York Times, Huffington Post, Washington Post, National Public Radio). Relevant to policy, practice, and law, Rachel's findings are cited in numerous amicus briefs for U.S. Supreme Court cases. Farr serves on her county school’s LGBTQIA+ advisory committee and in leadership roles in professional organizations and at UK.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Sex, Gender
Anna Gassman-Pines
Anna Gassman-Pines is Professor of Public Policy & Psychology and Neuroscience in the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy and a Faculty Affiliate of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. Dr. Gassman-Pines received her BA with distinction in psychology from Yale, where she was an Affiliate of the Bush Center for Child Development and Social Policy, and her Ph.D. in Community and Developmental Psychology from New York University. Her research focuses on the development of low-income children in the United States and, in particular, how parents’ experiences outside the home – in low-wage workplaces, labor markets, accessing social services – spillover to the home and affect family functioning and child well-being. Dr. Gassman-Pines was formerly the co-chair of the SRCD Science and Policy Committee. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and many foundations.
Key Research Interests:
Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Policy
Jessica Fish
Dr. Jessica Fish is a human development and family science scholar whose research focuses on the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority (i.e., lesbian/gay, bisexual, and transgender) youth and their families. Broadly, Dr. Fish studies the social and interpersonal factors that shape the development and health of sexual and gender minority young people. Her overarching goal is to identify modifiable factors that contribute to sexual and gender minority health inequities in order to inform developmentally sensitive policies, programs, and prevention strategies that promote the health of sexual and gender minority people across the life course.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Positive Youth Development, Social Policy, Other
Ashley Cole
Dr. Ashley B. Cole is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma. Her research program focuses on health behaviors and promotion among Indigenous populations to inform the development of culturally relevant clinical interventions that address health inequities in Indigenous communities. Her training as a clinical psychologist has strengthened the applicability of her research in examining both health and mental health comorbidities in underserved communities. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to an academic research career as evidenced by 39 peer-viewed publications (seven as lead-author), four published book chapters (three as lead author), and several additional manuscripts under review and in preparation for publication. She has also widely disseminated her work through over 100 scientific research presentations, including several invited presentations on working with Indigenous communities, at local, national, and international conferences.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Jennifer Zosh
Jennifer M. Zosh, Ph.D., is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University’s Brandywine campus. Her areas of expertise include playful learning, the impact of technology on children and families, and cognitive development. She publishes in traditional outlets and also with organizations that publish for the public (e.g., Lego Foundation, Brookings Institution, etc.,). A major driving force in her career is dissemination and translation of scientific discoveries via blogging, consulting, and participating in advisory boards. Her translational work has appeared in The Conversation, PBS Parents, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, NPR Radio Times, and beyond. She is past Chair of the SRCD Teaching Committee and has won both campus and University-wide Teaching Awards. She works hard to balance teaching and research at a teaching intensive, undergraduate-only institution and would be happy to chat about this somewhat non-traditional path.
Key Research Interests:
Cognitive Processes, Education, Schooling, Technology, Media and Child Development
Melinda Gonzales-Backen
Dr. Gonzales-Backen is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining the faculty at UMass, she was faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Florida State University for 12 years. She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Arizona. Her research is centered on the collective roles of cultural, contextual, and familial processes in the well-being of Latinx adolescents and emerging adults. Specifically, she is interested in how adolescents learn about and engage in their ethnic-racial and cultural background and the role of family in that process.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Suman Verma
Suman Verma is a Developmental Psychologist and her research is in the areas of child work, adolescent family life, school stress, adolescent abuse, intervention studies using life skills education approaches, PYD and social policy. She was a two-time fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford. As a member of a cross-cultural group, she conducted a study on Learning under Conditions of COVID-19 among Indian Adolescents in 2020. She is an ISSBD Fellow, on the editorial board of Zeitschrift für Psychologie, IJBD and Psychological Science. Her book on Developmental Science and Sustainable Development Goals for Children and Youth with Anne Petersen (2018) addresses developmental issues of vulnerable youth with a focus on LMICs. She is a steering committee member of DevSCA. Currently she is an associate editor of the IJBD and one of the guest editors of a special issue on COVID-19 of JRA.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Positive Youth Development, Social Policy
Friday Lunch: May 1, 2025 - 11:50 am - 1:20 pm CT
Richard Lee
Richard Lee is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology (Counseling) from Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Lee's research focuses broadly on the cultural, racial, ethnic, and migration experiences of youth and families from racially minoritized backgrounds. He is interested in how Asian American youth and families individually and collectively experience and respond to living in a racialized environment, focusing on determinants and outcomes of ethnic-racial identity development, acculturation and acculturative stress, racism and discrimination, ethnic-racial socialization, and culture-specific parenting across generations. To do this work, he employ top-down and bottom-up approaches to quantitative and qualitative research. He is increasingly drawn toward a more interdisciplinary, international, and collaborative approach to doing this work.
Key Research Interests:
Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Stephanie Irby Coard
Dr. Stephanie Irby Coard is a Professor in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro). She has held faculty appointments at Duke University and New York University School of Medicine. She earned a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University. She completed a Postdoc in the Division of Adolescent Medicine, at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Her research examines racial, ethnic, and cultural influences on youth development and family functioning and the development and implementation of culturally relevant evidence-based practices. Her clinical training and understanding of socio-cultural factors, as they relate to child mental health, has informed her work on several locally and federally funded studies to pursue research in the development of culturally relevant strategies to assist African American parents in preventing and managing common behavior problems among youth. This research has resulted in an observational measure of racial socialization and parenting curricula.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Relationships
Amanda Rose
Amanda Rose (Ph.D. University of Illinois, 1999) is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri. Dr. Rose’s work focuses on friendships in youth with particular attention to gender and to implications for emotional adjustment. Her work has been funded by NIMH and published in top journals including Developmental Psychology, Child Development, and Psychological Bulletin. This work has been cited over 14,000 times. Dr. Rose was awarded the Early Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for Research in Child Development, the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity from the University of Missouri, and fellow status in APA and APS. Dr. Rose is a founding member of the Developmental Psychology program at the University of Missouri. Dr. Rose also received the Provost’s Junior Faculty Teaching Award and the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.
Key Research Interests:
Sex, Gender, Social Relationships
Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Riverside. Her research focuses on the role of the social environment (e.g., culture, parents, peers, and teachers) in children's school motivation, achievement, and psychological well-being. Her recent efforts include understanding the role of culture and emotions in creative thinking, testing theories on how children come to understand who is competent and why, and translating knowledge in motivation science into practices in the classroom. Her research has been funded by federal agencies including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, as well as private foundations. She is a recipient of the Society for Research in Child Development Early Career Research Contributions Award in 2017.
Key Research Interests:
Education, Schooling, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Social Relationships, Social, Emotional, Personality
Meeta Banerjee
Dr. Meeta Banerjee is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina in the Clinical-Community Psychology program. She received her Ph.D. in Ecological-Community Psychology with a specialization in Applied Developmental Science from Michigan State University. Her research seeks to understand the influence of contextual factors on the developmental trajectories in underrepresented racial/ethnic minority youth. In particular, Dr. Banerjee examines the interaction between ecological contexts (e.g., schools, families, neighborhoods, communities) and parenting practices. She primarily focuses on how ethnic racial socialization and ethnic-racial identity influence the outcomes in Black and Brown youth who have experienced racial/gender discrimination or community violence. Dr. Banerjee utilizes mixed-methods approaches and community-based participatory research methodologies with communities in Michigan, California and South Carolina. She is a current member of the SRCD Black and Asian Caucuses, was the Secretary for Black Caucus and is the current Chair of the Equity and Justice for SRCD.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Naila Smith
Naila A. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Education, Youth and Social Innovation in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia (UVA). At UVA, she is a faculty affiliate with Youth-Nex: The UVA Center to Promote Effective Youth Development and the Center for Race and Public Education in the South. Dr. Smith earned her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University, Bronx, NY in 2016. Her research applies anti-racist and strengths-based perspectives to examine the role of sociocultural resources (i.e., social relationships with parents, teachers, and peers), assets (e.g., ethnic-racial identity), and risks (e.g., discrimination) in the development of marginalized groups, primarily immigrant, Black, and Latinx, from childhood to emerging adulthood (ages 18-25). Dr. Smith is strongly committed to the goals of equity, justice, and inclusion in developmental science and academia at large. She is a native of Jamaica, a foodie, and lover of karaoke.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Relationships
Gustavo Carlo
Dr. Gustavo Carlo is Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine. His primary research interest focuses on understanding positive social development and health in culturally-diverse children and adolescents. Many of his projects focus on ethnic/racial groups across the world and in U.S. Latino/a youth and families. He has published over 300 books, chapters, and research papers. He has received funding from various agencies (including NSF, NIH) and has received several awards for his research and mentorship. He currently serves as a member of the SRCD Governing Council, Associate Editor of Developmental Psychology, and co-edited the recent APA Handbook of Adolescent and Young Adult Development.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Moral Development, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social, Emotional, Personality
Barbara Rogoff
Barbara Rogoff is UCSC Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology at UC Santa Cruz. She investigates cultural aspects of children’s learning and how communities arrange for learning, finding especially sophisticated collaboration and attention among children from Indigenous communities of the Americas. She received awards for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions (SRCD), Distinguished Contributions to Developmental Science (Piaget Society), and Outstanding Research (UCSC). She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education, and a Fellow of the AAA, APS, APA, and AERA. She has held the UC Presidential Chair and Fellowships of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Kellogg Foundation, and the Exploratorium, and served as Editor of Human Development. She is author of Learning Together: Children and Adults in a School Community; The Cultural Nature of Human Development; and Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town.
Key Research Interests:
Attention, Learning, Memory, Cognitive Processes, Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Language, Communication, Methods, History, Theory, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Relationships
Gail Ferguson
Gail Ferguson, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. A Jamaican-born scholar, Dr. Ferguson’s research integrates developmental, cross-cultural, and clinical psychology to study 21st century forms of acculturation and enculturation among youth and families from varying racial, cultural, and national backgrounds. She pioneered work on media-driven remote acculturation and remote enculturation, migration-driven tridimensional acculturation, and the Whiteness pandemic. Taking science from the lab to the living room and classroom, Dr. Ferguson’s transdisciplinary team translates their findings into culturally-responsive health and parenting preventive interventions to promote the resilience of youth in globalizing settings (e.g., JUS Media?) while equipping parents to meet modern parenting demands (e.g., CARPE DIEM). An APA Div 7 Fellow (developmental), Dr. Ferguson serves on the Editorial Boards of Child Development, Child Development Perspectives, and Caribbean Journal of Psychology, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Society for Research on Adolescence.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Health, Growth, Injury, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Technology, Media and Child Development
Doré LaForett
Doré R. LaForett, Ph.D. is a Research Scholar at Child Trends. She received her B.A. from the University of Denver (Psychology, Spanish), her M.A. from the University of South Carolina (Clinical-Community Psychology), her Ph.D. from Temple University (Clinical Psychology), and completed two post-docs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Early Education Sciences, Developmental Disabilities). Dr. LaForett is an early childhood mixed methods researcher who specializes in child development and the educational experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse young children and families. Her lines of work include dual language learners and dual language programming, child and family mental health, and family engagement. Her research has been funded by federal and state agencies, as well as private foundations. She is the Chair of the SRCD Latinx Caucus, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Early Intervention. Dr. LaForett is a licensed psychologist in North Carolina.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Language, Communication, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare, Social, Emotional, Personality
Rebekah Levine Coley
Rebekah Levine Coley, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Institute of Early Childhood Policy at Boston College. Professor Coley’s expertise lies in assessing and counteracting economic, social, and racial inequities in mental and behavioral health and educational and economic attainment. Her research employs quantitative, qualitative, and evaluation methodologies to assess and inform social and educational policies and practices at the federal, state, and local level which seek to disrupt the transmission of inequities to children, families, and communities. Professor Coley was the founding Editor of SRCD’s Child Evidence Briefs which translate developmental science to federal and state policy makers, and has held leadership positions in SRCD, SRA, and the University-based Child and Family Policy Consortium. Her research excellence has been recognized through receipt of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, an SRA Social Policy Award, and the inaugural APA Mavis Hetherington Award in Applied Developmental Science.
Key Research Interests:
Developmental Psychopathology, Family Context and Processes, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Policy, Social, Emotional, Personality
Emilie Smith
Dr. Emilie Smith is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies. Her community-engaged research seeks to understand the interactions of families, schools, and communities in promoting positive development. Her work is translational, drawing upon randomized trials, mixed- and multilevel methods to examine family and community approaches that reduce disparities and increase equity. Her work at the local and national levels, funded for millions of dollars by federal agencies and foundations has positively impacted thousands of children and families. Her work explores racial-ethnic identity, socialization, and social justice approaches to positive youth development. Smith is a Fellow of Division 27, of APA, and of the Society for Prevention Research. She is currently Editor-in-Chief, of the American Journal of Community Psychology. She is on the Governing Council of SRCD and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus Panel on Out of School Time for Marginalized Youth.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Methods, History, Theory, Out-of-School Time, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Deborah Rivas-Drake
Deborah Rivas-Drake, Ph.D., is the Stephanie J. Rowley Collegiate Professor of Education and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. The overarching goal of her work is to illuminate promising practices that disrupt racism and xenophobia and help keep diverse young people on trajectories of positive contribution to their schools and communities. Together with the Contexts of Academic + Socioemotional Adjustment (CASA) Lab, she examines how school, peer, family, and community settings can support adolescents in navigating issues related to race and ethnicity, and how these experiences inform young people’s academic, socioemotional, and civic development. In addition to her academic publications, she has collaboratively developed products for parents, educators, non-profit organizations, youth program developers, and industry. Dr. Rivas-Drake draws on her experiences as a Latina first-generation college graduate and full professor to enhance opportunity for scholars who are socially marginalized in the academy.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Stephen Chen
Stephen Chen is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College, where he teaches courses in Asian American Psychology, Cultural Psychology, and Culture & Emotion. As director of the Culture, Family, and Development Lab, Chen examines how culture and family processes influence mental health and development across the lifespan. Chen’s current research examines (1) how Asian American families navigate issues of race and social status, and (2) the interplay of multilingualism and emotion in the family context. Chen currently serves on the editorial boards of Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and the Journal of Research in Adolescence. In addition to SRCD, he is active in the Society for Research in Adolescence and the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative.
Key Research Interests:
Developmental Psychopathology, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social, Emotional, Personality
Shauna Cooper
Dr. Shauna M. Cooper is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is also Director of the Strengths, Assets, and Resilience (StAR) Lab. Dr. Cooper is also a Non-Resident fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC. Her research examines racial and cultural contexts of development and well-being. Additionally, her work explores the individual and interactive influences of family relationships as well as school and community factors. Dr. Cooper’s research has been funded by several agencies and organizations, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development, and has been published in a variety of scientific journals. Currently, Dr. Cooper is the Interim Editor-in-Chief for Child Development. Also, she is committed to fostering strategic partnerships and collaborations with organizations and local governments to support children, families, and communities.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Kathryn Modecki
Dr. Kathryn Modecki is a Professor in the School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia and Distinguished Professorial Research Fellow at The Kids Institute, the largest child health research institute in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. Modecki trained at the University of Virginia, University of New Hampshire, and Arizona State University’s REACH Center and has been supported by the NIMH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jacobs Foundation, eNurture UK Network, and major funders in Australia. Her research maps how adolescents (and parents) navigate stressors, seek support from those around them (including online), and move onto problematic vs. healthier trajectories at key developmental junctures. Dr. Modecki harnesses new technologies to investigate diverse pathways, applying a lens across years, days, and moments via longitudinal surveys, experience sampling, and passive-sensing approaches. She is strongly committed to research mentorship, hosting US, Australian, and international students in the lab, and serve as co-chair of SRCD’s International Affairs Committee.
Key Research Interests:
Developmental Psychopathology, Technology, Media and Child Development
Saturday Breakfast: May 1, 2025 - 11:50 am - 1:20 pm CT
Vaishali Raval
Dr. Vaishali Raval is professor of psychology and affiliate of global and intercultural studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She received a Ph.D. in clinical developmental psychology from University of Windsor, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cultural psychology and human development at the University of Chicago. Through her research, teaching, and service, she is committed to addressing the historic underrepresentation of global communities in developmental science. Her primary program of research focuses on cultural and contextual foundations of parenting, emotion processes, and how they relate to child and adolescent mental health outcomes. She has worked to promote global developmental science through roles such as the co-chair of SRCD’s international affairs committee, past chair of SRA’s international committee, and chair of the US National Committee for Psychological Science (USNC/IUPsyS), as well as through associate editor roles for Journal of Research on Adolescence and Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Key Research Interests:
Developmental Psychopathology, Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Relationships, Social, Emotional, Personality
Lionel Howard
Dr. Lionel Howard is an applied developmental psychologist whose research interest includes gender and racial identity development and socialization, motivation and academic achievement, and research methodology. He has worked on local and national research projects focused on Black child development and improving students' educational trajectory and schooling experiences. Dr. Howard has published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of Boyhood, Journal of Homosexuality, and Harvard Educational Review. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health. Dr. Howard received his Ed.D. in Human Development & Psychology from Harvard University, and completed a NICHD postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Department of Psychology) and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. He also has a M.A. in Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation from the University of Maryland, College Park, and B.A. in Applied Mathematics & Statistics from William Paterson University.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Sex, Gender, Other
Diana Leyva
Diana Leyva is an Associate Professor of Psychology and a Research Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) at University of Pittsburgh, USA. Leyva’s research focuses on how parents support the development of children’s school readiness skills in minority communities including low-income immigrant families in the U.S. and low-income families in Latin America. She received her Ph.D. from Clark University and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University and project director of Un Buen Comienzo (A Good Start), a teacher professional program in Chile. She has published in Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly, among other top scientific journals.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Language, Communication, Out-of-School Time, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare
Stacey Horn
Stacey S. Horn, (Ph.D. 2000, University of Maryland) is a Professor and Head of the Department of Family Social Science in the College of Education and Human Development. Her current research focuses on issues of sexual prejudice and bias-motivated harassment among adolescents, parents and teachers of adolescents; adolescents’ reasoning about peer harassment, as well as LGBT students’ experiences in schools and communities. Prior to returning to MN, she spent 20 years as a professor (and eventually Chair) of Educational Psychology in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has published articles in journals such as Developmental Psychology, Journal of Social Issues, and Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Her edited book (with Stephen Russell) Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Schooling: The Nexus of Research, Practice, and Policy won the best social policy book from SRA as well as the best book award from APA Division 44.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Positive Youth Development, Sex, Gender, Social Cognition
Alan Meca
Alan Meca (él/he/him) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). In addition, Dr. Meca is currently the Chair-Elect for SRCD's Latinx Caucus. Broadly, Dr. Meca's expertise is in identity development, acculturation, and cultural stress. Although his research has focused generally on identity, most of his work has been on cultural identity and acculturation among ethnic/racial minoritized youth, particularly among Hispanic/Latinx populations. In pursuit of this research agenda, he has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts focused on personal, ethnic/racial, and national/US identity and on the cultural dynamics among Hispanic/Latinx families. Currently, his research agenda is focused on refining measures of cultural identity, understanding the processes that govern how ethnic/racial minoritized youth navigate their cultural environment, and identifying ways we can support youth experiencing cultural stressors.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social, Emotional, Personality
Perla B. Gámez
Dr. Perla B. Gámez is associate professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago (LUC) and secretary for the SRCD Latinx Caucus. Currently, she is a mentor for the SRCD Horowitz Early Career Scholar Program. Dr. Gámez received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She leads a program of research focused on the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Latino children. Her research examines how variations in the features of language that Latino children are exposed to impact their bilingual language and literacy skills. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, William T. Grant Foundation, and the National Science Foundation as well as a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an Institute for Education Sciences Dissertation Year Fellowship. She has been honored by the Master Researcher and Teaching Excellence Awards at LUC.
Key Research Interests:
Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Language, Communication, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships
Catherine Haden
Dr. Catherine Haden's (Professor of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago) research focuses on the power of caregiver-child conversational interactions and storytelling for supporting children's learning and remembering. Collaborating with museums, and with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Dr. Haden's work seeks to understand and advance educational practices that can support science and engineering learning opportunities for young children. Her work focusing on Latine families' everyday practices around science and storytelling is contributing to strengths-based approaches to broadening participation in STEM. Dr. Haden is a Fellow and past President of APA Division 7 (Developmental) and a member of APA's Publication and Communications Board, and the APA Council of Representatives. She is a former Associate Editor for the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology and a frequent grant review panelist for NSF.
Key Research Interests:
Attention, Learning, Memory, Education, Schooling, Out-of-School Time, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Michelle Sarche
Dr. Sarche is a clinical psychologist and professor in the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Michelle is a citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe and has partnered with Native American communities in research for over 25 years. Her work centers equity and highlights excellence in Tribal early childhood programs. Current projects include the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center, the Center for Indigenous Research Collaborations and Learning in Home Visiting, the Community-Driven Indigenous Research, Cultural Strengths, and Leadership to Advance Equity in Drug Use Outcomes Center, and two culturally adapted alcohol-exposed pregnancy prevention programs. Through the Native Children’s Research Exchange, Michelle has served as a mentor to numerous early career scholars and convener of a national network of Indigenous and allied researchers. Michelle is an Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow and ZERO TO THREE Board member.
Key Research Interests:
Family Context and Processes, Methods, History, Theory, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Ann DiGirolamo
Dr. DiGirolamo is a clinical pediatric psychologist with additional training in public health and maternal and child nutrition. She is a research professor in the School of Social Work and director of behavioral health and the Center of Excellence for Children’s Behavioral Health in the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University (GSU). Her main research interests are in the behavioral, psychosocial and community factors affecting maternal and child health and well-being of vulnerable populations, including those related to quality of care and workforce development. She has experience and expertise in Community-Based Participatory Research. She has been PI and Co-Investigator on projects addressing child nutrition, early childhood development, and mental health domestically and internationally, with over 25 years of related experience. Her current work at GSU involves providing expertise in research, evaluation, workforce development and policy related to behavioral health, working with communities and within public health systems.
Key Research Interests:
Education, Schooling, Health, Growth, Injury, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Prevention and Interventions, Positive Youth Development, Other
Matthew Diemer
Matthew A. Diemer examines how young people analyze, negotiate, and challenge racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other constraints in school, college, work, and civic/political institutions. Framed by a critical quantitative (CritQuant) perspective, he is particularly interested in how marginalized people develop critical consciousness: a careful analysis of societal inequalities, the motivation to produce social change, and participation in social or political action to challenge inequality. His research has been or is currently funded by grants from the Institute for Education Sciences, the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation. He currently serves as chair of the Combined Program in Education & Psychology (CPEP) at the University of Michigan.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Methods, History, Theory, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Ashley Groh
Dr. Groh's research applies a biopsychosocial perspective to investigating the developmental origins and legacy of children’s early relationships with parents for socioemotional development across the lifespan. Dr. Groh pursues three primary lines of research, including examining the: (1) intergenerational transmission of parent-child attachment relationships, (2) developmental significance of early caregiving experiences for social and emotional development, and (3) construction of representations of attachment in infancy and adulthood. Dr. Groh's research interests lie at the intersection of social, emotional, and biological processes in development. As such, her research is multi-method in nature, including interview and self-report measures of representations of early experiences, observational assessments of family processes, and biological measures of autonomic physiological activity (e.g., electrodermal reactivity, heart rate) and brain activity (e.g., EEG/ERP). In addition, Dr. Groh uses a multi-faceted approach to addressing developmental research questions, leveraging meta-analytic, longitudinal, and experimental methods.
Key Research Interests:
Biological Processes: Neuroscience and Genetics, Biological Processes: Psychophysiology, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Social Relationships, Social, Emotional, Personality
Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell (he/him) is Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor in Child Development and Amy Johnson McLaughlin Director of the School of Human Ecology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an expert in adolescent and young adult health, with a focus on sexual orientation and gender identity. His 2016 book, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Schooling: The Nexus of Research, Practice and Policy, won awards from the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research on Adolescence. He has served on the governing boards of: the Society for Research in Child Development; the National Council on Family Relations (and is an elected fellow); the Council on Contemporary Families; SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change; the National Scientific Council on Adolescence; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Board on Children, Youth and Families; and the Society for Research on Adolescence (he served as President 2012-2014).
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Family Context and Processes, Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context
Shannon Snapp
Dr. Shannon Snapp (she/her) is an Associate Professor in Psychology at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). Her research focuses on reducing (mental) health and educational disparities through supportive relationships and educational/health practices and policies. She uses an intersectional lens to study the lives of LGBTQ+ youth. She strives to do asset-based, justice-driven, critically-conscious research that has the potential to create social change and reduce inequality. Her teaching focuses on love, relationships, and social justice. She currently teaches a course she developed called How to Love: The Art and Science of Love and Intimacy, which inspired her recent TEDx talk on love. Dr. Snapp is the Chair-Elect of the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Caucus within SRCD, and she is the Chair of the DEI Committee within the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at CSUMB.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Education, Schooling, Sex, Gender, Social Policy, Social Relationships
Lisa López
Dr. López is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on understanding and improving the educational and environmental opportunities of Latine DLL children in the U.S. She conducts research within a Community-Based Partnership Framework and has long-standing relationships with Head Start. Her research has been funded by NIH, IES, and ACF, and published in high-impact and practitioner journals in education and developmental psychology. She is the treasurer and an executive committee member of SRCD, and past chair of the SRCD Latinx Caucus. She co-authored a book that highlights effective research-based home and classroom practices for working with DLLs and provides practical strategies geared towards implementing culturally and linguistically responsive instruction within early childhood classrooms. Currently, she is developing a professional development course for the early childhood workforce focused on working with bilingual learners in partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/ Monroe.
Key Research Interests:
Education, Schooling, Language, Communication, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, School Readiness, Childcare
Joanna Williams
Dr. Joanna Williams is Senior Director of Research at Search Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes positive youth development and advances equity through applied research and collaborative partnerships with youth-serving organizations. Her education includes an M.S.Ed. in human development from University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Temple University, and the generous wisdom of mentors, peers, and young people. Dr. Williams was a tenured faculty member at University of Virginia and Rutgers University, where she cultivated her research skills with a focus on racial equity, identity, and positive youth development. She was a recipient of a William T. Grant Scholars Award and is past-Chair of the SRCD Black Caucus. Dr. Williams is committed to co-producing actionable research for practitioners, policymakers, families, and communities. She is a member of the National Scientific Council on Adolescence and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's Board on Children, Youth, and Families.
Key Research Interests:
Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice, Positive Youth Development, Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context, Social Relationships, Social, Emotional, Personality