CHOP Mentor
Clinical Research Assistant (Summer 2013)
"In 2013, I participated in CHOP’s Research Institute Summer Scholars Program (CRISSP). Under the mentorship of Dr. Meghan Marsac and Dr. Nancy Kassam-Adams, I contributed to two studies exploring strategies for the secondary prevention of posttraumatic stress and examining adjustment in children and families after acute medical events and injuries. I also designed an independent research project on threat appraisals and coping strategies after pediatric injury. Presenting my findings to the CHOP research community at a poster session was a significant experience because it confirmed my deep commitment to research, particularly with regard to how I could translate scientific findings into knowledge that would directly benefit families and inform clinical practice.
Witnessing families cope with potentially traumatic events taught me the importance of developing preventive interventions, as I learned how parents sometimes contribute to children’s psychosocial and emotional burdens.This experience amplified my interest in understanding parent-child interactions and how children respond to other types of adversity, such as maltreatment or disruptions in care. I am currently a graduate student in the Clinical Science doctoral program at the University of Delaware. My research focuses on how adversity, attachment, and parenting in infancy impact children’s peer relations in middle childhood. As a graduate student in the Infant Caregiver Project Laboratory, I am involved with several projects evaluating the effects of the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) intervention, which was designed to help neglecting parents learn to provide nurturance, respond in sensitive ways, and reduce frightening behaviors."