Meet the team

 

Antonia Abbey, Ph.D. (Professor, Psychology) 

Dr. Abbey is a social psychologist researching the etiology and prevention of sexual assault, studying perpetrators and victims, the role of alcohol use/abuse in adolescents and young adults in sexual assault and as a risk factor for the psychological, social and physical health consequences of sexual victimization.  

Jim (Xinguang) Chen, M.D., Ph.D. (Professor, Pediatric Prevention Research Center)

Dr. Chen examines health risk behaviors in teens transitioning to young adulthood using trans-disciplinary studies of substance use from genetic and psychosocial perspectives, and employing advanced analytical methods such as quantum behavior change and developmental trajectory analyses.

Lisa M. Chiodo, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Nursing)

Dr. Chiodo is a developmental psychologist studying neurobehavioral effects and prevention of alcohol and drug use in pregnancy and interventions promoting optimum development of children exposed prenatally to alcohol and/or cocaine, and of environmental exposures to lead.  

Diane C. Chugani, Ph.D. (Professor, Pediatrics & Radiology; Translational Neuroscience Program)

Dr. Chugani, founder of the Children's Hospital of Michigan Autism Center and Chief of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, studies pathogenic mechanisms of autism, cerebral palsy and epilepsy using neuroimaging (PET & MRI), molecular and pharmacological studies.

Virginia Delaney-Black, M.D., M.P.H. (Professor; Associate Director, Children's Research Center of Michigan)

Dr. Delaney-Black is a neonatologist studying long-term outcomes after prenatal cocaine and alcohol exposure using prospective longitudinal designs focusing on cognitive and behavioral development as well as environmental factors that can moderate/mediate/mitigate those effects.  

Deborah A. Ellis, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, Pediatrics)

Dr. Ellis, a child clinical psychologist, studies behavioral interventions with adolescents and their parents to improve adherence to treatments for chronic medical conditions such as type-1 diabetes or obesity, and risk for HIV infection.   

Xiaoming Li, Ph.D. (Director, Pediatric Prevention Research Center)

Dr. Li is a social science methodologist working with interdisciplinary teams of pediatricians, psychologists and other health care professionals studying HIV/AIDS and mental health in adolescents and young adults in both US and international settings.

Sylvie Naar-King, Ph.D. (Associate Professor; Pediatric Prevention Research Center)

Dr. Naar-King is a clinical psychologist developing and testing empirically supported behavioral treatments to reduce health disparities in children and adolescents, targeting diseases disproportionately affecting African Americans such as HIV, diabetes, obesity and asthma.

Richard B. Slatcher, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Psychology)

Dr. Slatcher conducts interdisciplinary social and health psychology research on links among family, marital and dating relationships, stress, and health (e.g., asthma), using novel naturalistic assessments, endocrine and epigenetic measures, and tractable health outcomes.

Jeffrey A. Stanley, Ph.D. (Director, Translational Neuroscience Program)

Dr. Stanley is a neuroscientist and physicist whose research applies different in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) methodologies (structural MRI, spectroscopy [MRS], fMRI & Diffusion Tensor Imaging [DTI]) to understanding brain development and pediatric psychiatric disorders, including ADHD and FASD.

 

2017-2018

Deane Aikins, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, School of Medicine 

Dr. Aikins is a neuroscience and clinical researcher interested in novel treatments of combat stress disorders, investigating those who are resilient and those diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), both in Veterans and military families.

Marjorie Beeghly, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Chair, Developmental Science Core Faculty, Infant Mental Health Dual-Title Program

Dr. Beeghly’s research focuses on the impact of risk and resilience factors on children’s communicative, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes, and how individual differences in parenting and parent-child social emotional interactive processes may alter these associations.

Tanja Jovanovic, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, School of Medicine 

Dr. Jovanovic studies risk and resilience in urban populations with high rates of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder, looking at the neurobiology of fear conditioning.

Christine Rabinak, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Applebaum College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences 

Dr. Rabinak merges basic and translational research to understand and treat anxiety disorders, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder. She is currently exploring the role a cannabis-like substance could play in treating these disorders.

Elizabeth Towner, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine

Dr. Towner is trained as a clinical and pediatric psychologist. Her research focuses broadly on pediatric obesity, health equity, and developing family-based health behavioral interventions.

Christopher Trentacosta, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Psychology 

Dr. Trentacosta studies how young children manage their emotions and behaviors, especially how this influences their adjustment to challenging circumstances, such as poverty. With support from WSU’s Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors, he and his collaborators are studying the role of exposure to environmental toxicants, including lead, on children’s early emotional, behavioral and cognitive development. Dr. Trentacosta is also involved in implementing and studying preventive interventions to promote well-being in families with young children.