The primary goal of my research program is to improve the prevention and early intervention of developmental and mental health disorders, particularly among young (0-8) at-risk children.  As such, my research endeavors incorporate three foci: 1) to advance the theoretical and research knowledge base pertaining to developmental and clinical processes among language and ethnic minority groups, 2) to improve the early identification of at-risk children and families through advancements in assessment methodology, and 3) to examine and develop interventions that prevent or mitigate developmental psychopathology.  Much of my work in these areas has focused on early bilingual, socioemotional, and acculturative processes within the Latino community. 

I have four studies that are active:

a)  We are collaborating with Head Start programs in NC and FL to implement a family literacy program with migrant farmworkers.  This study examines: a) the impact of an early prevention/intervention program on the development of migrant preschoolers and families, b) language, literacy, and socioemotional development within migrant families, and c) the appropriateness, strength, and feasibility of a variety of methods in assessing migrant children and parents. This is supported by funds from the Department of Education.

b)  We recently were awarded a federal ACF contract to design a national study of migrant and seasonal farm working families engaged in Head Start. The result of this project will be a comprehensive, multi-method research design that can gather data that describes program variations, strengths and gaps in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start services, and the lives of migrant and seasonal families and children served by the programs through observations, interviews, surveys, and direct assessments of children.   

c)  Using ECLS-B data, we are examining mental health and developmental processes in a nationally-representative sample of young immigrant families followed between infancy and school entry.

d)  Finally, we are engaged in a national psychometric analysis of measures used to assess young English language learning children.

In terms of my background and training, I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Maryland and DC, beginning my career as a preschool teacher assistant.  I obtained my doctorate at the University of Denver in child clinical psychology with an emphasis in cognitive neuroscience and complete a clinical internship at Children’s National Medical Center.  I subsequently focused on the early childhood identification and prevention of developmental and mental health difficulties from infancy to elementary school (0-8 years of age) as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuropsychology at Kennedy Krieger Institute.  I also completed a prevention science research postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where I focused on designing and conducting studies of prevention and intervention programs. Throughout my training and career, I have been dedicated to learning and utilizing advanced statistics, including latent variable and multilevel level modeling.  I am presently engaged in an IES faculty fellowship specializing in bilingual child development through the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education at the University of Virginia.  I also serve a Fellow at the Life Cycle Institute at CUA, which reflects my interest in engaging in policy-relevant research.  Finally, I am engaged in the local community with various endeavors, including serving as a board member of DC Bilingual Charter School.