Congratulations to Professor Rebecca Puhl, who was awarded a UConn Research Excellence Program grant: “Advancing Understanding of Diabetes Stigma in Healthcare: The Role of Physician Biases in Patient Communication, Perceived Barriers, and Provision of Care.”
Author: Janice Berriault
Maria LaRusso receives UConn Research Excellence Program grant
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Maria LaRusso, who was awarded a UConn Research Excellence Program grant. Her project is titled Adapting and Piloting a Social Justice Multi-Modal Intervention to Reduce Anxiety in BIPOC Youth.
Yuan Zhang, HDFS Grad Student Spotlight, August 2022
Yuan Zhang is a Ph.D. candidate who joined the HDFS department in 2017 to work with Dr. Linda Halgunseth. She earned her B.S. in Psychology and M.A. in Education from Shanxi University in 2011 and 2014, respectively. She earned a second M.A. in Psychology from Pepperdine University. Yuan’s research interests focus broadly on the development and mental health of individuals within minority communities (e.g., ethnic minority and sexual minority) and parenting and parent-child relationships within different cultural contexts. Specifically, Yuan is interested in the role cultural beliefs play in parenting children in China, the well-being of individuals with diverse backgrounds, as well as how acculturation experiences in the U.S. impact immigrant Chinese parents’ well-being, parenting, and child development. Over the past few years, she has been actively involved in multiple research projects on mental health, parenting, and parent-child relationships within diverse populations, including Chinese adolescents, LGBTQ+ college students, international students, as well as parents and children from immigrant families in the U.S.
Yuan successfully defended her dissertation in July 2022. In her dissertation, Yuan explored the association between Chinese immigrant mothers’ parental psychological control and its association with the mothers’ acculturation experience, as well as their indirect association via parental psychological adjustment using data from over 200 Chinese immigrant mothers and their children ages 3-6.
In addition to research, Yuan has actively sought leadership experiences within international societies. In 2019, she was elected through a competitive process to serve as a graduate student representative on the SRCD Asian Caucus International Scholars Network Subcommittee. Yuan continues to work in this capacity and has enjoyed collaborating with developmental researchers in ways that support and promote collaborations among international scholars across the world.
After graduation, Yuan will be working as a Research Associate in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. She will support Dr. Linda Halgunseth’s research activities that focus on parenting and parent-child relationships, as well as the developmental outcomes of children and adolescents, considering the critical role of cultural context.
Laura Mauldin and Makayla Dawkins launch OVPR-funded website
Based on research interviews with caregivers across the country, a new OVPR-funded website was just launched with Associate Professor Laura Mauldin as principal investigator and HDFS student Makayla Dawkins contributing as an undergraduate research assistant. See the website here https://www.disabilityathome.org/
Rebecca Puhl featured in UConn Today addressing weight stigma
Professor Rebecca Puhl featured in UConn Today for serving on a panel addressing weight stigma in the media. Read the article here.
Jolaade Kalinowski receives Pre-K Scholar Career Dev Program Award
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Jolaade Kalinowski, who was recently selected as a recipient of the Pre-K Scholar Career Development Program Award.
Na Zhang receives grant to design mindfulness training module
UConn Today wrote an article about Assistant Professor Na Zhang’s new NIMH career development grant. Read the article here.
Kim Gans’ research featured in UConn Today
Professor Kim Gans was featured in UConn Today discussing meals and physical activity for children in family child care homes. Read the article here.
Laura Donorfio receives award read the article in UConn Today
Associate Professor Laura Donorfio was featured in UConn Today highlighting both her honor of receiving the Clark Tibbitts Award and for her work research project on drag expression. Read the article here.
Aimee Roberge, HDFS Alumni Spotlight, July 2022
Aimee Roberge grew up in Connecticut, attended UConn from 2010-2014 and graduated with a double major in Human Development and Family Studies and Human Rights. During her time at UConn, she volunteered and participated in many clubs and activities including Habitat for Humanity, Love 146, Alzheimer’s Association and Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society. She also studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa. One of her favorite HDFS memories is assisting a professor with coding therapy session recordings using the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding Manual for clinical observation data.
Upon graduation, Aimee participated in a summer program called LeaderworX, where she helped to facilitate community service projects for middle and high school students and planned group discussions and activities to educate youth about community service and social justice. After taking some time to reflect on her time at UConn and spending time with some little kiddos at her neighbor’s day care, Aimee made a big move to the Big Apple for a volunteer program with Covenant House, a shelter for youth experiencing homelessness, where she worked with mothers and children. She worked at Covenant House for another year before returning to school at Baruch College to receive her Master of Public Administration degree. Her capstone project focused on an analysis of policies, practices, and nonprofit programs that impact children and their incarcerated mothers in New York State prison and city jail facilities. Aimee spent time in Washington D.C. during one of her semesters taking classes and interning, so decided to move there upon graduation.
In D.C, Aimee worked with the National Community Action Partnership for three years as a Program Associate with the Learning Communities Resource Center team and then as a Senior Associate for Learning and Dissemination. She helped to write multiple grant applications and manage virtual and in-person learning cohorts to provide training and technical assistance to a network of over 1000 Community Action Agencies in areas such as comprehensive services for children and families, equity, trauma-informed care, financial empowerment, and homelessness intervention.
Aimee recently transitioned to a new position with the Council for Exceptional Children as a Professional Development and Resources Coordinator. She enjoys living in Virginia and in her free time likes to spend time by the water, go on hikes, or curl up with a good movie or book. While life can get busy and there are so many opportunities and options available, Aimee tries to embody one of her new mantras: “people over plans:” don’t live life only by your to-do list or you will miss a lot right in front of you. Make time for a few things that are really important, then let life’s beauty and adventure unfold!