Author: Janice Berriault

Mary Tabb Foley, HDFS Faculty Spotlight, September 2022

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Mary Tabb FoleyMary Tabb Foley first joined the UConn community as an undergraduate student nearly twenty years ago. UConn was Mary’s first choice to pursue her undergraduate studies. As a Connecticut native, it felt like the right place to spread her wings while being close to home in a community not all that different from where she grew up. At the start of her time at UConn, Mary was hoping to become an elementary school teacher. However, fate was at play when a course in a major called Human Development & Family Relations with a fieldwork opportunity presented itself. This fieldwork experience was at the Child Development Labs on campus and Mary was asked to complete her fieldwork hours in the infant classroom. That first day at the Child Development Labs put Mary on a new trajectory to pursue a career she knew much less about but knew without a doubt that she found exactly where she was meant to be.

Mary often shares with students how this chance semester led her to a find and follow a new path for a fulfilling and enriching career in early childhood education. After graduating from UConn, Mary worked directly in community-based early childhood education programs in Hartford and Willimantic. As an early childhood teacher, Mary cared for and guided learning for infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children. During this time, Mary found frequent opportunities to build on her professional calling by volunteering in professional organizations, including the Hartford Association for the Education of Young Children and the CT Association for the Education of Young Children. These experiences fueled her desire to lead and have a meaningful impact on the lives of young children and their families. As a lifelong learner, Mary quickly discovered that she wanted to pursue an advanced degree in education. Mary earned her Master of Arts, dual-degree in Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Saint Joseph, and a CT State Teacher Certification focused on birth through kindergarten. At this time Mary began working directly with some of the youngest children in Connecticut in the CT Birth to Three system. Mary has always believed that shifting perspective to see the world through the children she is with has incredible outcomes to meet each child where they are and respond to their unique needs. With a shift out of the classroom settings, Mary spent just over five years in a statewide program called the Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP). The ECCP is a mental health consultation program designed to build the capacity of caregivers by offering support, education, and consultation, to support social/emotional needs of children birth to five in CT. This position gave Mary the opportunity to apply all aspects of her professional experience to engage the closest caregivers of young children. Mary’s professional opportunities have bridged the many roles that early childhood educators can have – providing high-quality education, supporting all aspects of development, and accessing community support to engage all of those important people in children lives.

In 2012, Mary followed what seemed to be fate, yet again, into another momentous opportunity and joined the UConn community on the Stamford Campus, as a lecturer and student program coordinator for the Early Childhood Specializations (ECS). This ECS was historically only offered at UConn Storrs for students in Human Development & Family Sciences. However, Mary introduced the specialization in Stamford to address the need for high-quality education for students looking to work with young children. After ten years in Stamford, Mary will continue within her role in HDFS and join the Storrs Campus as of Fall 2022.

Mary lives with her husband, two young sons and her dog, Nico, just over the state line in Longmeadow, MA. Mary is often busy with just life itself, finding ways to enjoy time with family and building a comfortable, loving home. However, her free time usually fills up with her other interests including reading, running, creating endless DIY projects, cooking/baking, organizing/finding ways to simplify life and dreaming up trips to places she will visit someday.

Kaleigh Ligus blogs on Medicare, patient care and policy impact

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Kaleigh LigusCheck out  HDFS grad student Kaleigh Ligus’ blog posts related to Medicare, Medicaid, policy impact, and more!

  • Ligus, K. (2022). Medicare Advantage improves patient-centered care efficiency for older beneficiaries. Read blog here.
  • Ligus, K. (2022). Medicaid expansion increased total physician visits but failed to bring in new physicians in early expansion states. Read blog here.
  • Ligus, K. (2022). AHRQ Advances the Mission for Relevant, Effective Population Data. Read blog here.
  • Ligus, K. (2022). Strategies for Maximizing Policy Impact. Read blog here.
  • Ligus, K. & Caplan, J. (2022). Policymakers Need to Hear from Experts. Do You Know How to Reach Them? Read blog here.

    Preston Britner, HDFS Faculty Spotlight, August 2022

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    Preston BritnerDr. Preston Britner is a Professor of HDFS and currently serves as the Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies. “Brit” has been on the faculty at UConn since 1997, and he has been active in service roles at department, college, university, state, and national professional organization levels throughout his time in Storrs.

    Brit was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Virginia. He completed his BA in psychology at the University of Miami, where he also captained the varsity track team, and his MA and PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Virginia, where he contributed to studies of child-parent attachment, child care, and child maltreatment prevention.

    At UConn, Professor Britner has researched a number of topics (e.g., attachment-caregiving relationships; youth mentoring; prevention programs) with a focus on the application of child development and parent-child family relationship theory and research to applied settings (i.e., translational science), geared toward the promotion of healthy interactions and the prevention of negative behavioral outcomes. Much of his current research focuses on interventions for families with children in foster care. Brit is examining the effectiveness of college preparatory programs for high school youth in foster care, as well as looking at eventual college attainment for youth in care (and what factors influence those educational outcomes). Since 2001, he has been involved with the study and refinement of the Supportive Housing for Families (SHF) housing and child welfare intervention for families with children in, or at risk for, foster care. SHF is a successful example of a community-based, family-focused intervention that was developed and studied collaboratively with state and nonprofit provider partners.

    In addition to publishing two books and dozens of articles and chapters (most with student co-authors), Dr. Britner routinely testifies at state and federal hearings and briefings in Hartford and DC. He has served on numerous editorial advisory boards and was the Editor of The Journal of Primary Prevention (2005-2010). A Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) since 2007, Brit served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, leading APA’s policy efforts related to children and families. In Connecticut, he was Co-Chair of the Families with Service Needs Advisory Board at the legislature, working to improve supportive services for “status offender” children and their families.

    At UConn, Professor Britner has chaired the Faculty Review Board, the Faculty Standards and Student Welfare committees of the University Senate, the Planning and Evaluation Committee for university accreditation, and the Teaching and Learning advisory board. He was Co-Chair (2008-2012) of the Public Engagement Forum (and the lead author of UConn’s successful 2010 Carnegie Foundation “Community Engagement” classification application). He has been recognized as a University Teaching Fellow (2003) and with the AAUP Service Excellence Award (2011), the Philip E. Austin Endowed Chair (2013-2016; the first UConn HDFS faculty member to hold an endowed chair), the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Public Engagement (2015), and the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award (outstanding mentoring of graduate students; 2019).

    Brit resides in Hampton, CT, with his three children (a chemist, a college runner, and a high school soccer player) and two cats (Mabel and Thea).

    Jill Popp, HDFS Alumni Spotlight, August 2022

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    Dr. Jill Popp earned her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from UConn in 2010. Her research during this time focused on young children with chronic illness and their representations of family functioning. To address this topic, she interviewed parents to understand their reaction to the diagnosis and how their feelings about the illness had changed over time. This work led to new findings about how young children’s narratives mirror their parents’ reaction to diagnosis and parental coping. During her time as a student, Jill was actively involved in several research projects at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) that focused on family centered care for children with complex medical issues. This work led to a full-time position after graduation as a Research Scientist where she continued her doctoral research and expand her research to other illness groups.

    During her five years at CCMC, Jill served on the scientific review committee to ensure quality and rigor to all human subjects research and was an active member of the hospital’s Institutional Review Board. While these activities were rewarding, it was her work on topics related to chronic illness and family functioning that she found incredibly meaningful. In particular, it was quite inspiring to hear how families were able to find hope in such challenging circumstances.

    Jill’s experience from this work and her child development background proved valuable in the next chapter of her career. She applied and successfully received a position as a researcher at the LEGO Foundation in Denmark, the headquarters of the LEGO Group, in 2015.

    Working at the LEGO Foundation, Jill has had the opportunity to lead several large-scale initiatives including management of internal and external stakeholders from all over the world. This work has included co-constructing rigorous proposals with partners to deepen our understanding of the science of play and children’s learning and to further realize the impact of the LEGO Foundation investments. In addition, she has designed formative evaluations that directly influenced the implementation of interventions to maximize impact for children. Jill is also a co-investigator on a cross-cultural study that uses novel methodologies to investigate children’s perceptions of play and learning. Throughout all this work, she has been involved in translating research findings in relatable ways across the organization and to broader audiences ranging from key messages for advocacy purposes to presentations at international conferences.

    One significant project that Jill led at the LEGO Foundation was the development of an ambitious 10-year research agenda on playful learning and children’s development. This work involved the management of several key stakeholders, including members of the board of directors and a cross disciplinary group of researchers from all over the world. She collaborated with colleagues to build a research agenda that included not only what the Foundation would fund, but how they would support research through innovative funding mechanisms, a fellowship program, and a competitive open call process. She is currently using her knowledge from this experience to support the development of a research and learning agenda for a large NGO to amplify the work they are doing in the field of early childhood education.

    Jill continues to enjoy living in Denmark and continues to travel throughout Europe while developing her LEGO brick building skills!