Graduate Scholars

Priyanka Chaudhary, of Birgunj, Nepal, is a student in the School of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Her project uses a mixed-methods approach to better understand factors that influence women’s level of pre-pregnancy physical activity as well as the influence physical activity has on the birth outcome in Nebraska. Studies have shown that over 55 percent of women aged 18 to 45, fail to meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity. To address this issue, she believes that pre-pregnancy care including regularly participating in physical activity is crucial as it can significantly improve women's health before conception, consequently reducing infant morbidity rates. The primary objective of her research is to contribute to improving maternal and infant health in Nebraska while aiming to extend this valuable knowledge to benefit communities. To achieve this, she aspires to pave the way for the better design of evidence-based programs related to physical activity that can positively impact the well-being of both mothers and their infants. 

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Danae Dinkel.

Jabeen Taiba, of Vijayawada, India, is a student in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Taiba’s project, “Association between agrichemical mixtures and pediatric health outcomes in Nebraska,” will identify the counties in Nebraska and across the nation where the heaviest application of pesticides took place over the past 28 years, and then evaluate their association with pediatric cancer and birth defects, adjusting for social vulnerability effects factors such as income levels, race, and education.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Eleanor G. Rogan.

Yao Yao, of Xi’an, China, is a student in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Yao’s project aims to examine the impact of Elaborative Conversation Strategies (ECS) intervention on parent-child interactions and preschool children’s science learning. The findings may inform parents of high-quality conversation strategies that can be used in everyday interactions to support children's science learning. The study findings may also provide an opportunity to address the issue of equitable access to enriching science learning opportunities among low-income families.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Soo-Young Hong.

Morgan Cade, of Kansas City, Missouri, is a student in the School of Biological Sciences and the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Cade’s project, “Investigating the Effects of the Probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis on Newborn Immune Development,” will use mice to study how probiotics contribute to immunological tolerance in infants and whether this particular strain of bacteria can reduce the severity of peanut allergies and anaphylaxis. More than 1.2 million children in the United States live with a peanut allergy. If this bacteria strain is shown to be effective at promoting tolerance to allergens, then it could be used as a preventative strategy in babies to prevent the development of a food allergy. 

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Amanda Ramer-Tait. 

Learn more about Cade and her project

Kazi Albab Hussain, of Sylhet, Bangladesh, is a student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His project aims to quantify the release of microplastics and nanoplastics from plastic-based baby products, study the relation between the properties of the plastic materials and the release of microplastics and nanoplastics, and assess the health impact and consumers’ exposure.

His faculty mentor is Dr. Yusong Li.

Learn more about Hussain and his project

JP Rech, of Seward, Nebraska, is a student in the School of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His project aims to explore differences in the effect of classroom-based physical activity interventions on the physical activity of young children based on race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. While three-fourths of school-aged children in the U.S. don’t meet the recommended guidelines of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day,  health and physical education are historically under-resourced in schools in lower-income, diverse communities. Rech hopes his study will help show which initiatives are relevant and effective for promoting physical activity outside of physical education and in the traditional classroom.

His faculty mentor is Dr. Danae Dinkel.

Learn more about Rech and his project

Jasmin Smith, of Champaign, Illinois, is a student in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Smith’s project, “The Development and Psychometric Testing of the Mealtime Emotional Climate in Childcare Observational Scales (MECCOS),” aims to find ways to modify the child care mealtime environment to improve preschool children’s consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other healthful foods. The project aims to systematically adapt and pilot an observational measure for assessing mealtime emotional climate in family child care homes.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Dipti A. Dev.

Learn more about Smith and her project

Saima Hasnin, of Dhaka, Bangladesh, is a student in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska─Lincoln. Hasnin’s project, “Can Family Child Care Home Providers’ Preparation and Serving Practices Influence Children’s Vegetable Consumption?” will help to understand family child care home providers’ preparation and serving practices of vegetables, parents’ feeding practices at home, and their influences on children’s vegetable consumption, while also validating a convenient method to measure children’s vegetable consumption. Her study will further the science for improving children’s vegetable consumption in child care and will help address early childhood obesity, which is a major public health problem in the U.S. that disproportionately impacts children from low-income and minority families in rural areas. Hasnin is serving as a graduate research assistant in the Ecological Approach to (EAT) Family Style project and the Nebraska Nutrition and Physical Activity in Child Care (NE Go NAP SACC) project.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Dipti A. Dev.

Hasnin presented her research findings at an online symposium on April 19, 2022. Watch the video

Anna Johnson, of Lake City, Minnesota, is a fifth-year student in the clinical psychology training program at the University of Nebraska ̶ Lincoln. Her project will examine moderators of the associations between early childhood sleep problems and elementary school development outcomes. Sleep problems, one of the most common areas of concern for parents of young children, can have detrimental impacts on development in early childhood as well as lasting impacts throughout childhood. Johnson’s study will inform early childhood practice and policy around the issue of sleep and child development. The identification of risk factors will inform pediatric sleep screenings and facilitate early identification for children who are at increased risk for poor outcomes. Johnson serves as an early childhood mental health consultant at Head Start, where she collaborates with teachers to support the social and emotional development of toddlers and preschoolers.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Timothy Nelson.

Johnson presented her research findings at an online symposium on April 19, 2022. Watch the video

Morgan Staver, of Clive, Iowa, is a doctoral student in nursing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center on the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner clinical track. Her project will examine the maternal distress in mothers of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Staver will examine depression, anxiety, and trauma experiences in mothers of infants in the NICU. Maternal distress can have devastating developmental, social, and economic outcomes for a mother and her infant. Staver’s work has the potential to assist with identifying women who would benefit from clinical intervention and referral to treatment, which would improve the lives of the mother, her infant, and their family. Staver is certified in perinatal mental health. She is also a registered nurse and has worked at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in the NICU, at Methodist Hospital as a forensic nurse examiner, and at Catholic Health Initiatives as a registered nurse in behavior health.

Staver's faculty mentors are Drs. Kathleen Hanna and Tiffany Moore.

Staver presented her research findings at an online symposium on April 19, 2022. Watch the video

Keting Chen, of Shanghai, China, is a student in human sciences in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her study will explore how the home numeracy environments and child care numeracy environments are associated with preschool-age children’s numeracy skills. Her study will identify important aspects of early numeracy environments (e.g., parents’ and teachers’ knowledge about early math and frequency of numeracy activities) that associate with children’s development of numeracy skills. The findings may also help to determine ways to support parents and educators in their early numeracy practices.

Her faculty mentors are Drs. Amy R. Napoli and Julia C. Torquati.

Erin Hamel, of Athens, Georgia, is a student in human sciences in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her project will investigate the workplace support of non-contact time, a widely overlooked facet of early childhood teachers’ workday. Non-contact time involves a teacher’s time away from children that provides an opportunity to address work demands beyond the direct care of children. Teachers need adequate amounts of non-contact time to plan for quality instruction, assess children’s development, and communicate with families, among other things. Hamel’s project aims to contribute to our understanding of early childhood teacher work supports to inform policies to improve teachers’ job satisfaction—a critical problem for an undervalued profession plagued with high turnover and low pay.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Rachel Schachter.

Alethea Chiappone is working to develop a mobile app to measure the adoption and implementation of healthy eating and active living policies and practices in family child care homes. The app will use photos taken by family child care providers to examine these healthy policies and practices. Chiappone and her team also will develop an accompanying tool to analyze the photos that are submitted through the mobile app. The app will equip program implementers with quality data that will help them deliver healthy eating and active living support that’s tailored to family child care providers. Several healthy interventions have demonstrated success in promoting effective practices, but limited research exists on these interventions with family child care providers, who are more likely to care for children from low-income households, rural communities, and/or racial or ethnic minority groups.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Brandon Grimm.

Elizabeth Preas, of Cooper, Texas, a psychology student at the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Preas is performing an efficacy and efficiency evaluation of real-time feedback for training caregivers to teach daily living skills to children who are on the autism spectrum. Caregivers are a vital contributor to positive child outcomes, but they often have home, work, financial and other responsibilities that make it difficult for them to take part in training. Some studies of the real-time feedback training approach have shown promise; thus, this project aims to gather more evidence and evaluate methods that reduce the cost and time of training caregivers.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Therese Mathews.

Yinbo Wu, of Hangzhou, China, a psychology student at the University of Nebraska  Lincoln. Yinbo is examining the relationship between parenting, attention, and working memory in young children. This study explores how parenting quality and attention are associated with verbal and spatial working memory in children 3 years, 6 months to 4 years, 6 months of age. The findings will clarify the roles of parenting and attention in working memory development in early childhood. The findings could help determine whether working memory interventions that incorporate attention training and parenting interventions will result in working memory improvement.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Anne Schutte.

Tuyen Huynh, of Philadelphia, a student in human sciences in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Tuyen is conducting a mixed-methods pilot study examining the effectiveness of the Circle of Security parenting intervention program coupled with mindful self-compassion to promote healthier parent-child relationships. The study, to be conducted with University of Nebraska Extension educators working with parents of young children, is looking at whether mindful self-compassion is effective at lowering parental stress by providing effective self-regulation strategies.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Julia C. Torquati.

Andrew Riquier, of Chaplin, Connecticut, a student in neuroscience and behavior in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Riquier is testing a drug therapy protocol targeting immune cells of the central nervous system that could lead to future prevention and treatment of developmental neural connectivity disorders such as autism. During early brain development, the immune cells known as microglia are crucial for the pruning and maturation of neural connections. Microglia dysfunction and inadequate pruning have been linked to the development of autism spectrum disorder. Riquier’s research will be conducted with laboratory rats.

His faculty mentor is Dr. Suzanne Sollars.

Shreya Roy, of New Delhi, India, a student in health services research, administration, and policy in the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. 
Roy is studying how Medicaid expansion for adults under the Affordable Care Act affects children’s health and educational outcomes. The study, which will look at a nationally representative sample of children ages 2 to 8, will examine whether Medicaid expansion for adults results in more preventive health care for their children, and whether that translates to better learning outcomes in early childhood. The study will also describe a model for pediatric care coordination for health care providers, schools, and early-intervention programs to improve the outcomes of children from low-income families.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Fernando Wilson.

Sonya Bhatia, of Lisle, Ill., a school psychology student in the Department of Educational Psychology and affiliated with the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools at the University of Nebraska ̶ Lincoln. Bhatia’s research will examine conjoint behavioral consultation’s effects on teacher-student interactions. Conjoint behavioral consultation is an evidence-based family-school partnership intervention designed to promote positive teacher-child interactions and support the learning and development of young children with challenging behaviors.

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Susan Sheridan.

Colgrove, of Naperville, Ill., is a student in human sciences in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska ̶ Lincoln. Colgrove will study the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention designed to provide strategies and skills for stress management and increasing general well-being among teachers. Teachers play a vital role in promoting the learning and social-emotional development of their students, and high levels of stress make teachers’ important work more difficult and may even lead some to leave the profession. 

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Victoria Molfese.

Wickstrom, of Columbus, Neb., is a student in exercise science (concentration in motor development and control) in the Department of Biomechanics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Wickstrom’s research seeks to improve early assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through identifying early differences in motor development (specifically sitting posture control), eye gaze behavior, and social brain activation. Her findings could provide insight into the underlying factors contributing to developmental delays, improve early detection, and aid development of interventions to improve the quality of life for individuals with ASD.

Her faculty mentors are Dr. Anastasia Kyvelidou and Dr. Jennifer Yentes.

Cavanaugh, of Mont Vernon, N.H., is a student in the neuroscience and behavior program in the Department of Psychology at UNO.  Cavanaugh's research focused on the effects of oxytocin on social motivation and social attractiveness in early development. This work, using young marmosets, is especially important, given the lack of pre-clinical work on using oxytocin in children suffering from social disorders (e.g., autism, social anxiety). 

Gregg, of Omaha, is a student in health services research and administration in the College of Public Health at UNMC. Gregg investigated how school-based health centers can deliver primary medical care to children from low-income families. Gregg's research sought to clarify how school-based health centers can organize themselves to implement progressive and promising concepts such as patient-centered care. This study has clear practical and policy implications particularly around using "school as a hub" as one mechanism to support young children's development and learning. 

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Li-Wu Chen.

Moen, of Frisco, Texas, is a student in the Department of Educational Psychology and the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools at UNL. Moen's project aimed to contribute a valid and psychometrically sound measure for assessing and supporting family-school partnerships to the field. The importance of family-school and parent-teacher partnerships is essential for supporting children's development and learning. 

Her faculty mentor is Dr. Susan Sheridan.