Areas of Research

Areas of Research | Colloquia | Early Childhood Center | Resources | Faculty | Trainees

Our research is centered on broad themes that reflect wide-ranging factors affecting development, with a lifespan perspective, often utilizing multidisciplinary designs and methods, and a committed urban mission. Individual research projects and/or faculty laboratories frequently address one or more of these overlapping themes:

Biological and Environmental Risk: Research in this area addresses factors and experiences such as certain birth events, illness or health status, and prenatal or early exposures to toxins, drugs, or community violence, that affect child and adolescent development and life-long health and well-being.
Developmental Transitions: Our research examines particular developmental periods or phases of life that typically involve significant change, growth, and opportunity such as becoming a parent, early infancy, school entry, and the shift to adolescence.
Interventions: Research in this area evaluates programs and interventions that aim to help children, youth, and families successfully respond to challenges and transitions across a variety of settings.
Developmental Neuroscience: Our studies focus on the relationships between brain development over the lifespan beginning prenatally and throughout adulthood and neurobehavioral function, health, and well-being.

2023 Research Grants

Help for Parents of Young Children

MPSI Assistant Professor Dr. Lucy (Kathleen) McGoron has dedicated her career to using technology to provide low-cost, easy access resources and strategies for parents of young children. In 2018, the National Institute of Mental Health granted her $554,000 to develop the Parenting Young Children Check-up, a website and text-based training for parents to learn behavioral strategies to lessen and prevent disruptive behavior. Last year, Dr. McGoron received an approximately $100,000 two-year Community Health Impact grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to expand this work.

An initial assessment of Check-Up's use and effectiveness is promising. Dr. McGoron and her team worked with 17 mothers and 17 primary care physicians to develop and refine the Check-Up. The full version of the program was tested in a small, proof-of-concept trial at a Detroit Pediatric practice. Then the program was evaluated with 38 parents, resulting in positive feedback, usage and ratings. Now Dr. McGoron is working with two community partners to further implement and evaluate the full program.

New Social Work Family Clinic Cares for Physical and Mental Needs of Children and Parents

Dr. Carolyn Dayton is the associate director of MPSI Infant Mental Health Program and an associate professor in the School of Social Work. She knows that early support for parents and children who are coping with trauma-related challenges is vital and can lead to closer relationships lifelong and better school success. Yet many families find it difficult to easily access the varied support services they need. A new clinic in Detroit wants to change that.

Michigan's Flinn Foundation awarded $150,000 to Dr. Dayton and her team to create a Social Work Family Clinic that offers pediatric and behavioral health services in one trusted location. The research team will collaborate closely with Wayne Pediatrics, directed by Herman Gray, MD, and is seeking additional funding from other Detroit area partners.

Opening in late 2023, the clinic will serve children under five and parents struggling with disorders such as postpartum depression, anxiety, and postpartum post-traumatic stress. This first-of-its-kind clinic in Detroit will also serve as a training site for students studying pediatrics, social work or infant mental health.

Permanent, Nurturing Homes for Young Children

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will collaborate with Dr. Ann Stacks, director of MPSI's Infant Mental Health Program, and Dr. Bryan Victor of the School of Social Work on a new $3.1 million, five-year grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. The project will support the coordination and expansion of Infant-Toddler Court Programs, also known as Baby Court, in three Michigan counties.

The program will expand highly successful local programs that keep families with young children together and work to ensure that children under age 4 in the child welfare system grow up in permanent, nurturing homes. The team will also work to expand integrative partnerships to support the development, well-being and health of children.

Michigan's rate of infant and toddler maltreatment is twice the national rate. Twenty-seven percent of children in the child welfare system who are age 3 and under are victims of child abuse or neglect. "This is an alarming percentage of children facing maltreatment, as only 14% of Michigan's population is made up of children in this age group," said Dr. Stacks. Her research focuses on caregiving that supports social and emotional development in early childhood, particularly in families at-risk, including those coping with poverty and maltreatment. Dr. Stacks has served as the university partner for the Wayne County Baby Court since 2009 and trained hundreds of child welfare workers, attorneys and jurists on the model.

"Children in Baby Court spend less time in care," she said, "are more likely to be reunified with their parent and are less likely to come back into the child welfare system."

2022 GRANTS

Major Grant Awards ($50,000 and above)

Recognizing, Reflecting and Responding to Infant/Toddler Cues: A Parent-Teacher Intervention to Support Social-Emotional Development through Caregiver Mindfulness and Sensitivity

Promoting Resilience among Maltreated Young Children

Ann Stacks, PI. A three-year, $1.39 million grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to create and sustain a collaborative court team workforce (as in the Baby Court project) using technology-based cross training.

Michigan Opioid State Targeted Response and Evaluation

Stella Resko, PI. Three related grants from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, totaling approximately $1.2 million, to assist with Michigan's federally funded response to the opioid crisis, prevent overdose-related deaths, and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Pediatric Motivational mHealth Parent Training for Child Disruptive Behaviors

Lucy McGoron, PI. A $21,000 supplement to a four-year, $533,151 K01 award from the National Institute of Mental Health to use internet-based technology to identify disruptive behavior in children and motivate parent engagement. The program provides evidence-based training tailored to each parent's needs.

Virtual Reality to Assess the Interpersonal Dynamics of Violence Exposure

Valerie Simon, PI. Adolescents exposed to interpersonal violence often experience negative consequences. This study uses virtual reality technology to measure the betrayal, stigmatization and powerlessness theorized to impact these consequences. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development granted $423,827 over two years.

Child Care Access Means Parents in School

Anna Miller, PI. The U.S. Department of Education awarded $339,655 to the Early Childhood Centers at MPSI to provide tuition for preschoolers of low-income parents attending Wayne State University. Affordable, quality child care encourages parents to stay in college and earn a degree.

Great Start Readiness Program

Anna Miller, PI. These yearly grants from the Michigan Department of Education are shared between both Early Childhood Centers on campus. MPSI's Center received $232,000 over two years to provide free tuition for qualified four-year-olds at-risk of school failure.

The Interpersonal Dynamics of Violence Exposure and Adolescents' Autonomic Regulation

Valerie Simon, PI. A two-year grant of $179,215 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Evaluating and Implementing the Parenting Young Children Check-up in Detroit to Promote Young Children's Behavioral Health

Lucy McGoron, PI. A two-year, approximately $100,000 grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to expand and evaluate the Parenting Young Children Check-Up that Dr. McGoron created. The Check-Up is a website and text-based training for parents to learn behavioral strategies to lessen and prevent disruptive behavior.

Child Care Stabilization

Anna Miller, PI. A 9-month, $98,800 grant from the US Department of Education to help childcare providers impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic stabilize operations and support the health and safety of children and staff.

Freer House Programs

William Colburn, PI. The Erb Foundation and the Kresge Foundation awarded $25,000 for programs and events to the Freer House, the 1892 historic home of MPSI faculty an

2019/2020 Research Grants

Thirty-two grants worth nearly $10 million were active across MPSI, the Early Childhood Center and the Freer House through 2019 and 2020. This is almost double the amount of our 2017/18 funding and illustrates the depth and breadth of our faculty's expertise and hard work. Areas studied include the opioid crisis, resilience in maltreated children, decreasing drug and alcohol abuse in pregnancy, and the impact of violence on adolescent relationships.

Scaling Up: A multi-site Trial of e-SBI for Alcohol Use in Pregnancy

Steve Ondersma, PI. A four-year grant of $2.6 million from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism to expand the testing of a brief computer-delivered intervention.

Recognizing, Reflecting and Responding to Infant/Toddler Cues: A Parent-Teacher Intervention to Support Social-Emotional Development through Caregiver Mindfulness and Sensitivity

Michigan Opioid State Targeted Response and Evaluation

Stella Resko, PI. Three one-year grants from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, totaling, $1.5 million, to assist with Michigan's federally funded response to the opioid crisis and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Accelerating Collaborative, Cumulative and Open Intervention Science with an e-Intervention Authoring Platform

Steve Ondersma, PI. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging Bioengineering awarded $1.5 million over four years to significantly enhance existing research software so scientists can more easily collaborate to develop powerful interventions for mobile devices.

Child Care Access Means Parents in School

Anna Miller, PI. The U.S. Department of Education awarded $659,927 to Early Childhood Centers at MPSI and the College of Education Early Childhood Centers to provide tuition for preschoolers of low-income parents attending Wayne State University. Affordable, quality child care encourages parents to stay in college and earn a degree.

Pediatric Motivational mHealth Parent Training for Child Disruptive Behaviors

Lucy McGoron, PI. A four-year, $533,151 K01 award from the National Institute of Mental Health to use internet-based technology to identify disruptive behavior in children and motivate parent engagement. The program provides evidence-based training tailored to each parent's needs.

Virtual Reality to Assess the Interpersonal Dynamics of Violence Exposure

Optimizing SBI Implementation for High Risk Alcohol Use in Women of Childbearing Age

Steve Ondersma, PI. Two grants totaling $235,939 and covering two years from Henry Ford Health Systems to refine and optimize the delivery of computer-based interventions that reduce alcohol use.

Great Start Readiness Program

The Interpersonal Dynamics of Violence Exposure and Adolescents' Autonomic Regulation

Valerie Simon, PI. A two-year grant of $179,215 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Promoting High Quality Early Childhood Education in Detroit

Hilary Ratner, PI. The Kresge Foundation awarded $163,629 to support the Early Childhood Consortium created by the College of Education and MPSI to provide professional development, coaching and other resources at no cost to early childhood centers that belong to the consortium.

Freer House Programs

William Colburn, PI. The Erb Foundation and the Kresge Foundation awarded $25,000 for programs and events to the Freer House, the 1892 historic home of MPSI faculty and staff.

2017/2018 Research Grants

Recognizing, Reflecting and Responding to Infant/Toddler Cues: Parent-Teacher Intervention to Support Social-Emotional Development through Caregiver Mindfulness and Sensitivity

Ann Stacks, PI. A $2.47 million grant to support a five-year program of professional development, coaching and interventions designed to improve the responsiveness and interactions between teachers, parents and young students. The Michigan team of WSU, Michigan State and the University of Michigan is one of four sites funded across the country as a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Children and Families, of the US Dept. of Health & Human Services.

In Utero Assessment of the Human Neural Connectome and Later Child Behavior

Moriah Thomason, PI. A $2.3 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to study the functional development of the human fetal brain and correlate it to behavior at age 4.

Development of Memory Networks in Children

Noa Ofen, PI. A $1.9 million over five years to investigate brain activity that predicts memory formation in children. Dr. Ofen will analyze data from electrodes implanted in children who are undergoing surgery to manage epilepsy not controlled through other treatments.

Child Care Access Means Parents in School

Anna Miller, PI. The U.S. Department of Education awarded $985,516 to Early Childhood Centers at MPSI and the College of Education Early Childhood Centers to provide tuition for preschoolers of low-income parents attending Wayne State University. Affordable, quality child care encourages parents to stay in college and earn a degree.

Promoting High Quality Early Childhood Education in Detroit

Hilary Ratner, PI, Anna Miller, and Beverly Weathington. The Kresge Foundation awarded $803,000 over three years to support three projects of the Early Childhood Consortium created by the College of Education and MPSI. Funding greatly expanded the leadership, professional development, web-based videos, training, coaching and other resources provided at no cost to early childhood centers that are part of the consortium.

Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES)

John Hannigan, Career Development Co-Leader. $765,069 over two years from National Institute of Environmental Health. CURES faculty seek to understand how complex exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors in Detroit influence the emergence of disease, especially environmental stressors on children. Dr. Hannigan helps early-stage investigators advance research ideas, publish high-impact research, and apply for competitive grants.

Computer-Based SBIRT for Marijuana Use in Pregnancy: Planning a Stage II

Trial Steve Ondersma, PI. A three-year, $684,000 grant from the National Institute on Drug Use to develop and test a brief computer-delivered intervention to reduce marijuana use during pregnancy. SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment.

Pediatric Motivational mHealth Parent Training for Child Disruptive Behaviors

Lucy McGoron, PI. A four-year, $533,000 K01 award from the National Institute of Mental Health to use internet-based technology to identify disruptive behavior in children and motivate parent engagement. The program provides evidence-based training tailored to each parent's needs.

High Tech, High Touch (HT²)

Steve Ondersma, PI. This $500,000 Michigan Health Endowment Grant involves the use of electronic messaging to help pregnant women struggling with substance use and mental illness. The project tests the feasibility and acceptability of personal, private and non-confrontational interventions delivered via smart phone, tablet or PC in the obstetrician's waiting room. The team includes MSU and U-M.

Virtual Reality to Assess the Interpersonal Dynamics of Violence Exposure

Screening and Brief Intervention for High Risk Alcohol Use in Women of Childbearing Age

Dr. Steve Ondersma, PI. This four-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control awarded $399,396 to refine and optimize the delivery of computer-based interventions that reduce alcohol use.

Consequences of Prenatal Toxicant Exposure on Fetal Brain Function

Moriah Thomason, PI. The National Institutes of Health granted $257,844 for two years to examine associations between prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke, lead, and mercury and resting state fMRIs of the human fetus at 35 week's gestation. The children are later evaluated for toxicant exposure and behavior problems.

Trajectories of Teacher Stress: Coping and Prior Exposure to Trauma

Ann Stacks, Co-I. A two-year subcontract under a $242,488 Michigan State University grant to better understand teacher stress, trauma exposure and coping mechanisms. Dr. Stacks will act as liaison to incorporate data and analysis from the Recognizing, Reflecting and Responding to Infant/Toddler Cues study for which she is PI.

Great Start Readiness Program

Anna Miller, PI. These yearly grants from the Michigan Department of Education are shared between both Early Childhood Centers on campus. MPSI's Center received $181,250 over two years to provide free tuition for qualified four-year-olds at-risk of school failure.

Recognizing, Reflecting and Responding to Infant/Toddler Cues: An Integrated Parent-Teacher Intervention to Support Social-Emotional Development through Caregiver Mindfulness and Sensitivity

Dr. Ann Stacks, PI. A $2.47 million grant to support a five-year program of professional development, coaching and interventions designed to improve the responsiveness and interactions between teachers, parents and young students. The Michigan team of Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan is one of four sites funded across the country as a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Children and Families, of the US Dept. of Health & Human Services. In Utero Assessment of the Human Neural Connectome and Later Child Behavior Dr. Moriah Thomason, PI. A $2.3 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to study the functional development of the human fetal brain and correlate it to behavior at age 4. This is an Innovative New Scientist award reserved for productive, early stage investigators conducting high-impact, novel research. Assessment and Intervention for Perinatal Drug Use Dr. Steve Ondersma, PI. A four-year, $1.73 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Use to test his newly created screening and intervention tool to reduce drug use in new mothers. The tool is low-cost, easy to administer, and designed to be effective even if the mother never confesses to drug use. Optimizing and Validating a Brief Assessment for Identifying Children of Service Members at Risk for Psychological Health Problems after Parent Deployment Dr. Julie Aikins, PI. A three-year $1.4 million Department of Defense grant (Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity) to examine the direct and indirect impact of Service Members psychological health problems following deployment on the well-being of their young children. Identifying the mechanisms