CPO - Key Persons
Alex Wagnon, B.S. is Director of Research Implementation in the Fisher Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Lab at the University of Oregon. His role is to oversee the successful execution of Dr. Fisher's research studies, including the Otter Study (CPO Research Project 1). To do so, he works directly with research investigators, project coordinators, data managers, and other research staff with the goal of increasing the efficiency and impact of the research being conducted. Alex began working in the SNAP Lab as an undergraduate research assistant and earned his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 2014.
Job Titles:
- Co - Investigator for Project
Alice Graham, Ph.D., is a co-investigator for project 3 and an assistant professor of Psychiatry at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine. Dr. Graham is interested in how the early environment, starting in the prenatal period, influences brain development and risk for mental health disorders.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University
Anna C. Wilson, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Wilson is a pediatric psychologist who studies the impact of chronic pain conditions on families, with particular emphasis on parent and family factors that may influence adolescent pain experiences, physical function, and psychological health. Her longitudinal work is theoretically grounded, and integrates pain psychophysiology with developmental and pediatric psychology approaches.
Job Titles:
- Training Manager of Calinc Training
Ashley Esparza Nash was previously employed as the Training Manager of Calinc Training, a Bay Area based environmental, safety and hazardous material training company. She then transitioned to the City of Suisun City providing support to the City Manager and Mayors office. Ashley began her career at the University of Oregon December, 2020 and enjoys her position as Assistant Project Coordinator for the Radx-Up LatinX and The Center on Parenting and Opioids grants.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior
Barry Lester, Ph.D., is professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior and Pediatrics and director of the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk at the Brown Alpert Medical School and Women & Infants Hospital. Dr. Lester's research has been federally funded throughout his career. He has been heavily involved in the NIH peer review process serving on NIH study sections, the NIH National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse, the NIH Director's Pioneer Award Program and the College of the Center for Scientific Review. He is past president of the International Association for Infant Mental Health and the author of more than 250 peer reviewed publications and 100 chapters and books.
Brenda Jones-Harden, Ph.D., is the director of the PEARL lab and a professor in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland College Park. She has worked over thirty-five years in the early childhood policy, practice, and research arenas. Her research examines the developmental and mental health needs of young children at environmental risk, particularly those who have been maltreated or exposed to other forms of trauma. A particular focus is preventing maladaptive outcomes in these populations through early childhood programs. She has conducted numerous evaluations of these programs, including early care and education, home visiting services, parenting interventions, and infant mental health programs. Dr. Jones-Harden received the doctoral degree in developmental and clinical psychology from Yale University, and the Master in Social Work degree from New York University.
Camille Cioffi, Ph.D., is a co-investigator on the Administrative Core. Dr. Cioffi is a Research Assistant Professor at the Prevention Science Institute at UO. She leads the Knowledge Dissemination Committee and CPO journal club. Her research focuses on improving health, mental health, and substance use outcomes among people with substance use disorders who are pregnant and parenting with a particular focus on highly stigmatized populations including people experiencing homelessness and people who inject drugs.
Damien Fair, Ph.D., is the co-leader for the Data Science Core. Dr. Fair is a Professor in the Institute of Child Development and Medical School's Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He is also the Redleaf Endowed Director at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. He is an expert in functional brain imaging. His work includes examinations across the lifespan in healthy and disordered populations.
Dave DeGarmo, Ph.D., is co-leader for the Data Science Core and is the mentor for pilot 2. Dr. DeGarmo is a research associate professor at the UO Prevention Science Institute and faculty member in the Counseling Psychology and Human Services department. Dave is former Director of the Center for Assessment, Statistics, and Evaluation at the UO. Dave teaches courses on prevention science research methodology in the College of Education. His primary work focuses on evaluation of family stress models and the efficacy and effectiveness of parent training programs, with a substantive focus on fathering behaviors.
Elizabeth Skowron, Ph.D., is a co-investigator on the Pilot and Training Core and is a professor in Psychology at the University of Oregon. Dr. Skowron's research examines the neurobiology of parenting at-risk, developing self-regulation, and family interventions that are effective for supporting positive, healthy parenting and reducing child maltreatment.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Psychology
Elliot Berkman, Ph.D., is lead of the Pilot & Training Core. Dr. Berkman is associate professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon where he directs the Social and Affective Neuroscience (SAN) Lab and is associate managing director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience. The work in the SAN Lab focuses on the neural and psychological mechanisms of goals, motivation, and behavior change in the context of real world behavioral goals such as tobacco cessation and dieting.
Eric Feczko, Ph.D., is a co-investigator for the Data Science Core. Dr. Feczko, an early career scientist under the supervision of Dr. Fair, will assist in developing and implementing neuroimaging pipelines and analytics regarding heterogeneity and multivariate modeling across all projects. He will also provide training to other early career scientists in these advanced approaches. Dr. Feczko is a cognitive neuroscientist and Bioinformatics expert with over 15 years of experience in neuroimaging research and postdoctoral training with the National Library of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Research Professor of Data Science in the Presidential Data Science Initiative at the UO
- Co - Investigator
Jake Searcy, Ph.D., is a co-investigator on the Data Science Core. Dr. Searcy is an assistant research professor of Data Science in the Presidential Data Science Initiative at the UO; a university-wide program in data science that will provide an excellent network of connections with researchers using data science approaches across the University of Oregon and with partners in the state of Oregon and on the West Coast.
Job Titles:
- Leader of the Science Communication Committee
- Professor of Psychology
Jennifer Pfeifer, Ph.D., is the leader of the science communication committee. Dr. Pfeifer is a professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon (UO), where she directs the Developmental Social Neuroscience (DSN) Lab and is the associate scientific director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience. She is also co-director of the National Scientific Council for the Developing Adolescent. Her research program focuses on characterizing periods of significant, manifold, and multi-level changes within adolescents over time that are believed to impact future mental health and health-risking behavior. Dr. Pfeifer has a particular interest in early adolescence, when transitions in peer and family relationships coincide with dramatic pubertal, neural, and identity development.
John Muench, M.D, M.P.H., is a clinician research in the Department of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. His research interests include screening for and the epidemiology of unhealthy substance use in primary care. He has many years of experience as a family physician in a community health center in Southeast Portland, including providing mother-baby care and medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. He will serve as a member of the Center's advisory board and contribute expertise and guidance in the areas of the interface between primary care and addiction.
John Seeley, Ph.D., is a co-investigator on the Pilot and Training Core and is the co-investigator for project 2. Dr. Seeley is a professor in the Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences. His research interests include emotional and behavioral disorders, school-based mental health intervention, research design and program evaluation, and digital health technology.
Kasie Josi, M.S.W., is a Project Coordinator for the Administrative Core of the CPO. In this role, she coordinates the Community Professional Advisory Board (CPAB) and the Data Collective project. Kasie earned her Master of Social Work degree in 2013 and has been working in research since with a focus on substance use treatment and eating disorder prevention and treatment.
Kyndal Yada, M.Ed. is Co-Director of Implementation in the Fisher Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Laboratory at the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. In this role, she collaborates with community organizations to develop and adapt intervention and evaluation plans, and works with relevant intervention, research, and administrative staff to coordinate intervention activities. Kyndal has experience implementing evidence-based programs with parents and other caregivers of young children, including Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND), Kids in Transition to School, and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care. She also provides training and support to FIND trainers, coaches, and video editors. She received her master's degree in Prevention Science at the University of Oregon in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Principal Investigator
- Principal Investigator for the Center
Leslie Leve, Ph.D., is a principal investigator for the Center and director of the Center's Administrative Core. A professor in the College of Education, Dr. Leve is also an associate vice president for research and the associate director for the Prevention Science Institute. Her research focuses on the interplay between biological (genetic, hormonal), psychological, and social influences on child and adolescent development.
Linda Mayes,M.D., is the Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology and Director of the Yale Child Study Center. She is also special advisor to the Dean in the Yale School of Medicine. Trained as a pediatrician, Dr. Mayes's research focuses on stress-response and regulatory mechanisms in young children at both biological and psychosocial risk. She has especially focused on the impact of prenatal substance use on children's long-term outcomes. She has made contributions to understanding the mechanisms of effect of prenatal stimulant exposure on the ontogeny of arousal regulatory systems and the relation between dysfunctional emotional regulation and impaired prefrontal cortical function in young children. She has published widely in the developmental psychology, pediatrics, and child psychiatry literature.
Llewellyn Fernandes, M.S., is a data science specialist working on data collection, harmonization, and storage for the CPO. He has a Bachelor's in information technology, experience in software and web development, and a Master's degree in data analytics. Llewellyn aims to merge his experiences with software development and database administration with research data, while working on the harmonization of CPO data.
Megan Lipsett, M.A., is the science communication graduate employee for the CPO. Through a biopsychosocial approach to social and health psychology, her research focuses on examining the psychosocial and neurobiological mechanisms related to goal-directed behaviors and long-term health outcomes.
Nick Allen, Ph.D., is a co-investigator on project 2. He is the Ann Swindells Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oregon and the director of the Center for Digital Mental Health, where his work also focuses on using mobile and wearable devices to unobtrusively track and analyze behavior in order to detect mental health needs and provide adaptive, personalized interventions exactly when users need them.
Nicole Giuliani, Ph.D., is co-Investigator on project 1. She is an evergreen associate professor at the University of Oregon, where she is faculty in the School Psychology and Prevention Science programs. Her research focuses on how people regulate their own affect (known as self-regulation), how self-regulation is associated with health behaviors (e.g., eating unhealthy food), how that process is learned from parents in early childhood, and how interventions designed to increase supportive parenting behaviors affect these processes.
Olivia Doyle, B.A., is a graduate student working on Project 3 under Principal Investigator, Dr. Kristen Mackiewicz Seghete. Her research interests include, executive functioning in typical and atypical children, DTI imaging and gender differences in ASD.
Olivia Doyle is a graduate student in OHSU's Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program and the lead on a pilot project investigating an adaptive virtual mindfulness intervention with social support for pregnant and early postpartum people with a history of substance use. Olivia's research interests include intergenerational transmission of psychopathology and perinatal intervention..
Job Titles:
- Principal Investigator
- Principal Investigator of the Center
Philip A Fisher, Ph.D., is a principal investigator of the Center, a Philip Knight Endowed Professor of Psychology and the Excellence in Learning Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford. Dr. Fisher's work includes (a) studies to understand the effects of stress on the developing brain; (b) the development of two-generation prevention and treatment programs to improve high-risk children's well-being; and (c) advocacy for science-based policy and practice to improve healthy development in high-risk children.
Job Titles:
- Co - Investigator for Project
Sarah Feldstein Ewing, Ph.D., is a co-investigator for project 3. As the Prochaska Endowed Professor of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, Dr. Feldstein Ewing's work focuses on the connection between basic biological mechanisms (e.g., functional brain activation, brain structure, genetic factors) and health risk behavior (e.g., clinical symptoms, HIV risk behaviors, treatment outcomes).
Job Titles:
- Co - Director of Implementation at the Stress Neurobiology
Shannon Peake, Ph.D. is Co-Director of Implementation at the Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Laboratory at the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. Dr. Peake is also an Early Childhood Support Coach for the Family Advice and Support Text/Telephone program. His research examines the combined influence of social factors and early experiences on brain and behavior development in children and adolescents. Results from that research informs the development of evidence-based programs to support parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators. Current research projects include randomized trials and rapid-cycle testing of the FIND (Filming Interaction to Nurture Development) video coaching program for parents and other caregivers of children in challenging contexts, including economic uncertainty, homelessness, and substance/mental health issues. Studies of program implementation are underway in Oregon (Head Start families), Washington (center- and home-based child care), New York (homeless shelters), Texas (pediatric primary care serving low-income Latinx families), and Victoria Australia (low-income community services families with or without child protective services involvement). He received his Ph. D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Oregon.
Simone Mendes is a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Oregon and is the Early Career member on the CPO Steering Committee. Simone is a member of the Science and Treatment of Affect Regulation (START) Lab led by Dr. Maureen Zalewski studying intergenerational emotion dysregulation and parenting processes. Simone's research interests center on exploring transdiagnostic mechanisms underlying mental health disorders and comorbid chronic health conditions such as chronic pain for women and girls.
Stephanie Lanza, Ph.D., joined the faculty at Penn State in 2004 and has devoted her career to advancing research on the prevention of substance misuse through the use of innovative quantitative methods. She has served as the principal investigator on research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Cancer Institute and has mentored many students and early-career researchers at Penn State. She is passionate about advancing science not only through her own research, but also by training substance use researchers to adopt cutting-edge statistical methods in their own research. Most of her work has focused on methodological advancements to and applications of latent class analysis (LCA) and time-varying effect modeling (TVEM). Stephanie truly is an interdisciplinary researcher and has built an extensive network of collaborators both within and beyond the Penn State community.
Sven Halvorson, M.S., is a data science specialist working on data collection, harmonization, and storage for the CPO. His professional interests include R/python programming, data visualization, statistics, and teaching. He earned a M.S. in biostatistics from Oregon Health & Science University in 2015. Prior to joining PSI, he worked as an analyst in public education and clinical anesthesia research.
William Cresko, Ph.D., is a co-investigator for the Data Science Core. Dr. Cresko is a professor of Biology and the director of the Presidential Data Science Initiative at the UO; a university-wide program in data science that will provide an excellent network of connections with researchers using data science approaches across the University of Oregon and with partners in the state of Oregon and on the West Coast.
Xiao Cheng, M.S. is a certified editor for the Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) Program. Besides facilitating video editing for various FIND projects, she also works on developing data management systems with the Data Manager for the SNAP Lab. Xiao received her bachelor's degree in Computer science from Beijing Forestry University in China in 2006 and her MS in Prevention Science from the University of Oregon in 2019. Xiao's research interests include the effects of early childhood stress exposure, parenting skills, and the design and implementation of therapeutic interventions for high-risk families.