Seven HDFS faculty and 10 HDFS graduate students will be presenting their research at the National Council on Family Relations Conference in Minneapolis in November. See a listing of all of their presentations here.
Author: Torres, Jazzlyn
Kaleigh Ligus writes blog for AcademyHealth
Doctoral student Kaleigh Ligus posted a blog in AcademyHealth addressing research on the current state of rural hospitals and resolutions to reinvigorate the health of Americans. Read her blog here.
Annamaria Csizmadia receives UConn Faculty Recognition Award
Associate Professor Annamaria Csizmadia received the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus Faculty Recognition Award. This award honors faculty who exceed expectations in their service to students on campus, and who have a thorough record of teaching, research, and service. Congratulations!
Rachel Cohen participates in National Head Start Caucus
![Rachel Chazan Cohen](https://hdfs.media.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/601/2020/07/Rachel-Chazan-Cohen-150x150-1.jpg)
![Caitlin Lombardi](https://hdfs.media.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/601/2016/12/Lombardi-2022-e1646686187629.png)
Associate Professor Rachel Chazan Cohen was part of a National Head Start briefing on Early Head Start for the bipartisan PreK and Child Care Caucus. She and Assistant Professor Caitlin Lombardi also visited the offices of several CT members of congress.
NFDC conduct Instructor Institute Training in Storrs
Members of the National Family Development Credential (NFDC) team (Sue Pappas, Caroline Mavridis, & Amy Knight) conducted a four-day NFDC Instructor Institute in Storrs, certifying 25 new FDC instructors from across the country – from California to New York, and in between (Oklahoma). HDFS Professor Charles Super delivered the closing ceremony remarks. NFDC, founded and directed by Claire Forest, and co-directed by Charles Super, is a 90-hour classroom- and field-based training on concepts and skills of family empowerment for all front-line service providers. It has operated since 1994 and has been headquartered at the UConn Center for the Study of Culture, Health, & Human Development since 2010. About 17,000 workers have been credentialed and NFDC now operates in 46 states.
Alumna Hilal Kuscul receives NCFR Student Recognition Award
Congratulations to recent PhD graduate Hilal Kuscul, who received National Family on Council Relations (NCFR) Honors Student Recognition, “awarded to students who demonstrate outstanding achievements in academics, leadership, and community service in the discipline of Family Science.”
Family Sciences Undergraduate Council yearly participation
The Family Sciences Undergraduate Council (FSUC) participated in the Student Organization Involvement Fair for the 7th consecutive year! FSUC is a student organization serving all students majoring, minoring or interested in the HDFS field of study at the Storrs or any regional campus. FSUC provides students with opportunities to attend events related to their major/minor, network with fellow students, and learn more about their major/minor.
Eleanor Fisk- experience as an SRCD State Policy Fellow
Graduate Student Eleanor Fisk was the April Spotlight for SRCD. Eleanor is currently an SRCD State Policy Fellow in the CT Office of Early Childhood (OEC). Learn more about Eleanor’s experiences here: https://www.srcd.org/news/april-2022-spotlight-srcd-us-state-policy-fellow-eleanor-fisk
Qianxia Jiang, HDFS Graduate Student Spotlight, May 2022
Qianxia Jiang has an interdisciplinary background in obesity prevention and intervention, psychology, health equity, and agricultural economics. She plans to graduate with her Ph.D. in May 2022. She is interested in the factors that contribute to obesity-related disparity and inequities, including the influences of built environments on health risks in marginalized groups, and applying this knowledge to inform interventions to promote healthy living. Qianxia first discovered her passion for obesity research as an undergraduate when she conducted research assessing how a food selection inhibitory control training game of children’s response inhibition affected eating behavior.
Qianxia has worked with professors from different departments on multiple projects at UConn. She conducts both quantitative and qualitative research with her advisor, Dr. Kim Gans, on an NIH-funded evaluation study of a multicomponent intervention that supports and empowers family childcare providers to improve the food and physical activity environments in their homes. She first learned about health equity and policy research by working with Allied Health professor Dr. Kristen Cooksey Stowers on multiple studies related to built food environments, disparities in food insecurity status, health quality, diet quality, and weight status. Beginning last summer, Qianxia was involved in an interdisciplinary grant that examines the association between the changing market structure and health outcomes. She also examined how changes in food retail market concentration relate to racial and ethnic inequities in food access over time. Qianxia has published several peer-reviewed publications and presented her research at both international and national conferences.
Following graduation, Qianxia will become a postdoctoral scholar at the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. This fellowship opportunity will provide training in novel ways to measure physical activity, behavioral epidemiology, and implementation science.
In her spare time, Qianxia loves hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and traveling. She plans to get advanced open water certificate in Hawaii this year. She has two cats (Tiger and Coyote).
Sabrina Uva featured in UConn Today
Sabrina Uva (HDFS ’22) was featured in UConn Today for her advocacy work: Read the article here.