June 8, 2023

Naomi Meinertz

Dr. Naomi Meinertz received her Ph.D. in 2022 in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University with minors in Gerontology and Political Science. Dr. Meinertz works to understand family care experiences and intergenerational relationships in later life and to bridge research and practice through translational science. Broadly, her research focuses on family caregiving processes and family care networks with the goal to help better prepare older adults and their families for later life care situations. Dr. Meinertz’s future research will explore care partnerships in under researched populations, such as blended and stepfamilies, as well as families from diverse…

June 6, 2023

Aileen Garcia

Dr. Aileen Garcia obtained her Ph.D. in Child, Youth and Family Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2018. Her research interests include cultural influences on parenting and caregiving, early childhood education and care, and quality of life among parents of young children the United States. Dr. Garcia’s overarching research agenda is to extend current knowledge on supporting parents and early childhood professionals, especially those from underrepresented groups. Her scholarship is grounded in applied research, with an emphasis on translating empirical findings into research-based trainings, resources, and professional development courses that bridge research and practice. She has published qualitative and…

July 11, 2022

Kellie Seals

Dr. Kellie Seals earned a joint Doctorate of Education in agricultural education from Texas A&M and Texas Tech Universities in 2021 and holds a Master of Science in instructional technology from Mississippi State University (2011). Dr. Seals works with both researchers and practitioners to serve youth in the state of Missouri by leading college and career programming and evaluation efforts for Missouri 4-H. Her professional background is in teaching, rural public education administration, postsecondary readiness programming, research education, and instructional design. Her research interests include experiential learning, career interest development, rural education, and student-teacher (youth-mentor) relationships. She leads collaborative efforts…

Dec. 1, 2021

Michelle Mathews

Dr. Michelle Mathews received her PhD from the University of Missouri in Human Environmental Sciences in 2006. She has over 25 years of experience in early childhood education as a teacher, administrator, advocate, trainer, consultant, grant writer, college instructor, researcher, evaluator, curriculum developer, and assessment coordinator, including eight years as the Director of the MU Child Development Lab (2014-2022). As an instructor, Dr. Mathews courses focus on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in early childhood; early childhood technology; and she coordinates the infant toddler and preschool practicum courses.

Nov. 23, 2021

Duane Rudy

Dr. Duane Rudy received a PhD in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2000. His program of research focuses on parent-child relations, including how they are both similar and how they vary across culture. He is especially interested in how families conceive of fostering autonomy in children, how parents convey warmth and care, and how parenting practices are related to children’s outcomes across cultures.

Nov. 23, 2021

Francisco Palermo

Dr. Francisco Palermo earned his Ph.D. in Family & Human Development in 2009 from Arizona State University. His research focuses on strengthening families and fostering young children’s healthy development and school readiness, particularly for vulnerable families and children at risk of experiencing socioemotional and academic difficulties due to limited English proficiency and adverse childhood experiences, such as poverty.

Nov. 23, 2021

Chelsea Garneau-Rosner

Chelsea Garneau-Rosner earned her Ph.D. in Family Relations from Florida State University in 2012. Dr. Garneau-Rosner’s program of research examines family processes and individual, couple, and family well-being in the context of family stability and complex family structures. She places particular emphasis on program evaluation to identify effective strategies for professionals working with families in community settings to improve well-being and enhance family stability. Since 2015, with funding from the Administration for Children and Families, Dr. Garneau-Rosner has been Co-PI and Director of ShowMe Healthy Relationships (SMHR), bringing free evidence-based relationship education classes to over 5,000 single and coupled adults…

Sep. 13, 2021

Antoinette Landor

Dr. Antoinette Landor received a PhD in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Georgia in 2012 and completed a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Her research program broadly focuses on how family and sociocultural factors impact adolescent and young adult outcomes in the U.S. and across the African Diaspora. She does this through studies that address two lines of work. The first focus is understanding how discrimination based on skin tone (i.e., lightness/darkness of skin color; colorism) and race (e.g., being Black; racism) impact individual, relational, and family…

Aug. 29, 2021

Louis Manfra

Dr. Louis Manfra received a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from George Mason University in 2006. His research broadly focuses on children’s cognitive development, learning, and school success during the early childhood years, especially as it relates to school readiness, self-regulation, motivation, and self-directed speech. He is currently exploring the impact of these constructs on long-term achievement in elementary school and identifying early skills and environmental factors that increase school success among at-risk and vulnerable children and children from diverse populations.

Aug. 23, 2021

Nora Hager

Ms. Nora Hager earned her Master of Arts in Human Development and Family Studies, in 1994 at the University of Missouri. She worked as a certified child life specialist (CCLS) at University Hospitals and Clinics (now known as MU Healthcare’s Children’s Hospital) from 1993 to 2001 after completing a clinical internship at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. As a CCLS, she worked to meet the psychosocial needs of children and families primarily on the day of surgery, adolescent, and pediatric intensive care units. She led the effort to establish a pet therapy visitation program for the children’s inpatient units, worked on…