Dr. Hilal Kuscul is a scholar in the field of Human Development and Family Sciences, bringing over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector to her work. She has been deeply involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of parenting, literacy, and women empowerment programs within the nonprofit sector. This extensive experience served as a catalyst for her pursuit of a doctoral degree in Human Development and Family Sciences.

Hilal earned her Ph.D. in 2022 from the UConn HDFS Department. During the 2022-2023 academic year, she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Human Development Department at SUNY Oswego. Since the Fall of 2023, Hilal has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of HDFS at UConn Waterbury. In this position, she passionately integrates her practical knowledge and academic expertise into courses covering a broad spectrum, including Adolescent Development, Parenting and Parenthood, Close Relationships, Men and Masculinities, Family Policies, and Family Interaction Processes.

Rooted in her past work with under-resourced families, Hilal’s research delves into the dynamics of low-income family environments, examining their profound impact on both children and parents, with a specific emphasis on fathers. Her theoretical framework is grounded in bioecological and identity theories, contextualized by considerations of gender roles and cross-cultural perspectives. Throughout her doctoral studies at UConn, she collaborated with Dr. Kari Adamsons, acquiring expertise in analyzing secondary data from sources such as the Future of (Fragile) Families and Child Well-Being Study, along with data related to Turkish Fathers.

As a developer of several education-based interventions, Hilal is an advocate for evidence-based educational interventions. She is deeply committed to informing family-based prevention and intervention programs, aiming to promote resilience and mental well-being in both parents and children. Hilal’s work also aims to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public understanding. She aims to translate academic insights into accessible language, ensuring that complex concepts become relatable to students and diverse learners across a range of programs.

Hilal has two sons, currently in the phase of ’emerging adulthood’ and enjoys spending time with them and her husband. She has a passion for watching true crime series and reading books on history and mythology. Whenever the opportunity arises, she also likes to visit museums and libraries.

Professor Rebecca Puhl recently served as a panelist alongside Al Roker, Deborah Roberts, David Sloan, and Holly Lofton at a national media event in NYC to discuss weight stigma. Read more about the event on UConn Today.

Dr. Candi Nwakasi is gerontologist who joined UConn HDFS as an assistant professor in August 2023. He is also an affiliate faculty of the Africana Studies Institute and a member of the UConn Cancer Survivorship Research Program. Candi’s work is based on using research, practice, and teaching to inform efforts geared towards addressing inequities in the aging and health experiences of minoritized people within and outside the US. His research program includes cancer survivorship and support access, cognitive health/decline and caregiving, and health care access in disadvantaged populations. He is also the co-founder of Black in Gerontology and Geriatrics (BIGG), a non-profit that is making efforts to amplify Black voices and elevate Black scholars and practitioners in the field of Aging. They recently received a 5-year NIA award to expand their work in the United States.

Across his career, Candi has combined work experience in public health care delivery, pharmaceutical, non-profit, and academia. He was initially trained as a Biochemist, before earning his Public Health master’s degree in the United Kingdom, and a Ph.D. in Social Gerontology from Miami University of Ohio. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern Indiana, working on a dementia workforce improvement program targeting rural Indiana, before joining Providence College as a tenure-track Health Sciences Assistant Professor in 2020 (during the pandemic).

Currently, Candi is investigating sociocultural factors influencing cancer survivorship experience in Black and Latinx populations. He is also collaborating on projects to identify psychosocial and environmental determinants of cognitive decline in older Black adults, psychosocial support access in aging/older Black cancer survivors, mental health seeking in Black cancer survivors, and understanding motivations for caregiving. Candi is a strong believer in mentorship and appreciates the power of mentorship in minoritized student and scholars in academia.

Beyond work, Candi enjoys watching soccer, playing soccer, playing video games (especially soccer), and discussing soccer. He is a second-generation Arsenal FC of England fan. He also loves to hang out with friends and family.

Dr. Rachel Tambling is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut, a licensed marital and family therapist, a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor of clinical behavioral health services. She received her MA in Marriage and Family Therapy from Western Michigan University and PhD in Child and Family Development with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy from University of Georgia.

Dr. Tambling’s research is focused on modifiable factors related to behavioral health service engagement. She is interested in research that explores ways to address barriers to behavioral health equity, including expanding the availability of couple and family therapy, and understanding the complex components of effective engagement and change during therapy. Dr. Tambling is also interested in the measurement of psychotherapeutic constructs and the ways in which measurement impacts outcomes of behavioral health services.

More broadly, her work is based on a Systems Theory approach, which highlights the complex and interacting effects (e.g., individual, familial, social structural, policy, societal) that influence well-being and behavioral health outcomes. Her research includes an examination of the ways in which societal factors, including stigma, social determinants of health, and access to services impact mental health and substance use treatment services. Dr. Tambling is committed to research that explores the complex components of effective engagement and clinical change using ecologically valid and rigorously collected data that are analyzed using advanced and appropriate statistical techniques. Her work has been cited over 2,000 times; she co-authored a top cited paper in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, the flagship journal of the marriage and family therapy profession, and has seen her work published in the preeminent journals of systemic scholarship (e.g. Contemporary Family Therapy; Family Process; Family Relations) and international journals of behavioral health and substance use (e.g. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly; Couple and Family Psychology; Family and Community Health; Health Education and Behavior; International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction; Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, Policy).

Dr. Tambling is the Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Family Therapy, a premiere journal in the field of marriage and family therapy, and an author of the textbook Helping Skills: Basic Techniques for the Active and Engaged Helper (Cognella, 2023).

At UConn, Dr. Tambling serves as the Chair of the Institutional Review Board at the University of Connecticut and is an Affiliate of the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy, a Research Affiliate of the Center for Applied Research in Human Development, and an Affiliate of the Sustainable Global Cities Initiative.

Dr. Tambling has been recently honored with several awards. She is a 2022 recipient of the Western Michigan University Outstanding Alumnae Award for contributions to the fields of counseling, psychotherapy, and marriage and family therapy. She is also the NCFR Family Therapy Section’s 2023 Kathleen Briggs Outstanding Mentor Awardee, an award in recognition of her work in mentoring and supporting the next generation of scholars.

In her life outside of work, Dr. Tambling is an avid runner and enjoys travel, marathons, and travel to marathons.

On October 25^th, UConn Stamford hosted a community event entitled, “A Community Conversation About Black Women’s Health.” This event was led by Jolaade Kalinowski in concert with staff at the Stamford Department of Health and Stamford mayor’s office. They hosted a panel discussion featuring 4 Black women doctors who practice medicine/dentistry in Stamford, followed by a community Q&A. The event was well attended by community members, community-based organizations, and Caroline Simmons (mayor of Stamford). In total, 72 people attended the event, which included a dinner catered by a Black woman owned business in Stamford. The organizers received excellent feedback from attendees and plan on continuing to engage the local and greater Stamford community in the future.

Professor Marlene Schwartz was featured in a TalkZone episode titled, “Constitutional Rights & Dubious Health Advice”. Listen to the audio episode here.

Professor Keith Bellizzi was a guest speaker on the National Cancer Institutes Podcast “Inside Cancer Careers” (Episode 14).  Inside Cancer Careers is a podcast that explores and illuminates the exciting world of cancer research training to bring a new generation of investigators into the field. Listen to the podcast here.

Raymond Moody is a clinical psychologist with expertise in syndemic approaches to health where multiple epidemics stemming from social inequities and environmental hardships interact to increase the burden of disease. His research broadly seeks to identify biopsychosocial determinants of sexual minority health and develop interventions that address vulnerabilities and promote resilience to reduce health disparities in this population. His research has focused on understanding the impact of intersecting stigmas on substance use and sexual health behaviors and the influence of emotion regulation on these health outcomes.

 

Ray grew up in Arizona and attended the University of Arizona, where he received a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS). The foundation of his research interests was heavily influenced by his experience as an undergraduate research assistant and then lab coordinator for Dr. Stephen Russell, conducting research on sexual and gender minority health disparities, in addition to his experience as an intake coordinator for a residential drug and alcohol treatment center. He completed his Ph.D. in the Health Psychology and Clinical Science doctoral program at the City University of New York, including a year-long clinical internship at The Ohio State University. He then completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in the NIDA-funded T32 Substance Abuse Epidemiology Training Program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

 

Ray joined the UConn HDFS department as an Assistant Professor in August 2023. He currently teaches an undergraduate course on Individual and Family Development, HDFS 1070. He serves as the faculty advisor to the Council on Family Relations at UConn. He is on the editorial board for the Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine journals of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. His research has been supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, including an R36 dissertation grant, a Loan Repayment Award, a T32 fellowship, and participation in the NIDA Diversity Scholar’s Network. Additionally, he is a current fellow in the NIDA-funded Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute on Hispanic Substance Abuse.

 

Ray enjoys traveling with his husband, Wes, and exercising with their dog, Pepper. While in graduate school, Ray developed some skills for baking, and he continues to use his baking skills today.

Professor Rachel Tambling is a recipient of the 2023 Kathleen Briggs Outstanding Mentor Award. This award acknowledges an outstanding mentor of graduate students and new professionals in the field of marriage and family therapy (MFT).