April 2021 Newsletter

 
 

Fellow Spotlight: Round One R2A Grant Recipients Selected

Congratulations to the recipients of the first round of R2A grants! Each of these teams brought forth impressive and unique work addressing issues surrounding child well-being. The three teams will soon embark on their applied research projects with their partners. Thank you to our excellent Selection Committee, which included university faculty, Chapin Hall staff, and policy and practice representatives.

The three teams and their projects are as follows:

Dr. Kelley Fong Dr. Lindsey Bullinger Ashley Watson

Team 1: The next generation of evidence-based home visiting services: Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic experiences with virtual delivery. Co-PIs are Dr. Lindsey Bullinger and Dr. Kelley Fong, both at Georgia Tech. Their partner is the National SafeCare Training and Research Center, with Dr. Shannon Self-Brown as the primary contact. The team also includes Ashley Watson, PhD student at Georgia State University, where the SafeCare Training Center is housed.

Dr. Grace Hubel Dr. Aditi Srivastav Amanda Stafford McRell

Team 2: Developing and testing maternal health communication for mothers participating in voluntary parenting programs: Exploring the influence of adverse childhood experiences and parenting stress. Co-PIs are Dr. Grace Hubel, College of Charleston, and Dr. Aditi Srivastav, Children’s Trust of South Carolina. Their partner is the Children’s Trust of South Carolina. The team also includes Amanda Stafford McRell, a graduate research assistance at the Children’s Trust and a social work doctoral student at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Elizabeth Jarpe-Ratner Dr. Leah Gjertson Kristen Belcher

Team 3: A Chicago research partnership to understand inequities in reporting of allegations of abuse, harassment, and misconduct among Child Public Schools Students of different racial/ethnic identities. PI is Dr. Elizabeth Jarpe-Ratner, University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Leah Gjertson, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, is collaborating on the project. Their partner is the Office of Student Protections and Title IX (OSP) at Chicago Public Schools, with Jemel Townsend, Director of Title IX Coordination as the primary contact. The team also includes Kristen Belcher, Ph.D. candidate at UIC.

If you are interested in applying for the second R2A round, please note that proposals are due August 1, 2021. There will be a few minor changes to the proposal requirements for Round Two and updated materials will be posted on the website by May 15th. Additional information will be shared soon about training opportunities as a part of the R2A program that are open to all Network members, including ones that focus on project management skills, DEIJ principles in research, funding, and translation and dissemination. For any questions, please feel free to reach out to Lee Ann Huang or Ticia Brown.

 

Child Well-Being Research Network Announced

The Executive Committee is extremely excited to announce the beginning of the launch process for the new Child Well-Being Research Network! The Doris Duke Fellowships is expanding into the Child Well-Being Research Network which aims to engage researchers from diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and disciplines to advance the field of child well-being and the prevention of child maltreatment. For more information about this initiative, please refer to our website. We look forward to the new connections to be made from this network expansion, and appreciate the hard work of the Executive Committee members and those who have volunteered their time on workgroups and committees. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to any of the Executive Committee members.

 

Fellows Updates:

Will Schneider was selected for the William T. Grant Scholars award. His research will examine the causal effects of income and housing support experiments on child neglect.

 
 

Kelli Dickerson has accepted a postdoctoral position at Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School with professor of pediatrics, Dr. Charles Nelson.

 

Nathaneal Okpych has a new publication in the Journal of Innovative Higher Education, exploring the social capital among college students with foster care histories using a novel social network instrument.

 

Christina Mondi-Rago and Alison Giovanelli co-authored a new publication in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics on a comprehensive, multi-systemic early childhood program and obesity at age 37 years.

 

Tova Walsh has two updates:

 

Byron Powell  and his colleagues published a new article in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science on the value of peer mentoring for early career professional, research, a personal development.

 
 
 

Staff Updates:

The Doris Duke Fellowships team at Chapin Hall is bidding a fond farewell to Mickie Brown and welcoming three new staff members. Mickie will be focusing on her Master’s in Public Health at University of Illinois at Chicago, working with faculty on several policy projects. We welcome Ticia Brown, who will focus on the R2A Grants and overall project coordination; Raya Kenepp, who will handle the website and newsletter; and Tiffany Burkhardt, who will be directing the R2A Grants evaluation. Deb, although enjoying semi-retirement, is still here to share advice and support, and Colleen and Lee Ann continue their work as usual!