Students in the News

Students in the News

By Susan Kelley
Reprinted from The Cornell Chronicle, April 30, 2013

Anil Singhal '13 represented one of three student groups that won the humanitarian award. He is president of Youth Outreach Undergraduates Reshaping Success, a program that works with an underserved community in Freeville, N.Y. - Jason Koski/University Photography

Three times a week 50 underserved kids ages 7 to 17 from Freeville, N.Y., gather for homework help and fun activities with Cornell students in the group Youth Outreach Undergraduates Reshaping Success (YOURS).

But once the kids hit about age 13, they often become less interested in the program and a few even begin having behavior problems. “You can see that they feel like they are too cool for the program and are older and more mature and don’t want to be treated like kids anymore,” said YOURS President Anil Singhal ’13.

So YOURS came up with a plan to keep the teens engaged: a training program to teach them how to mentor the younger children. The teens will learn skills related to leadership, teamwork and modeling positive behavior; they’ll integrate those skills as they plan and lead activities under the supervision of Cornell students.

“Hopefully the skills they develop will help them find employment or get into a college or a vocational program – whatever it may be that they wish to do,” said Singhal.

For this plan YOURS was one of three Cornell student groups that each recently received the Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award, which comes with a grant of $1,500 to further their community service projects. The award is administered by Cornell’s Public Service Center.

Eighteen student groups applied for the award. Six semifinalists made the case for their projects April 19 and finished the day with dinner at the Statler Hotel, where Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy announced the recipients.

Sharjeel Chaudhry ’13 and Kathy Tin ’14 won the award fortheir PATCH Science Kits. Cornell students in the Pre-professional Association Toward Careers in Health (PATCH) will use their pre-med science backgrounds to create science kits for students in North Brooklyn, N.Y. Each kit will include the instructions, equipment and lessons needed to carry out several full-length experiments. “This $1,500 is an investment,” said Chaudhry. “If only two students from our target population end up pursuing science, our investment will be well worth it.”

Jillian Strayhorn ’14 accepted the award for Project SOLVE (Skills Oriented Life View Education), in which undergraduates tutor students ages 7-17 (most are 8-12) in academic skills and psychological skills, including conflict resolution and anger control, anxiety reduction and kindness and empathy. Each tutor is paired with one student, with whom they typically work for 30 minutes, six days per week, for a year or more. Tutoring sessions are held by telephone to minimize logistical difficulties.

Project SOLVE will use the award to fund the prizes that some of the kids are working toward. “These prizes help us make our students’ goals more immediate and more easily anticipated, making the idea that work yields progress even more salient,” Strayhorn said.

The panel that chose the winners consisted of alumni affiliated with the Public Service Center, a student representative and Leonardo Vargas-Mendez, executive director of the Public Service Center.

The awards were established by Gerald Robinson ’54, Margot Robinson ’55, Robert Appel ’53 and Helen Appel ’55 to recognize and honor students who have had significant involvement in community service by providing support for their projects, which address a community’s social needs or problems.

By Sarah Cutler
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, February 29, 2013

Riffin

Loeckenhoff

Tending to older loved ones who have bold personalities may be harmful to their caregivers' physical health, report Cornell researchers.

People who cared for individuals characterized as "easygoing" and "well-intentioned" reported better physical health than those who cared for headstrong and less agreeable people. No effects, however, were found regarding the caregivers' mental health.

The study of 312 pairs of caregivers and care receivers, which is one of the first to look at the influence of care-receiver personality on caregiver health, was published online Dec. 11 in the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

Caregiver health was particularly low when those receiving care were both low in agreeableness and highly extraverted -- a combination called a "leader type," said senior author Corinna Loeckenhoff, assistant professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology. "That kind of personality may be very successful in a business setting, but it's not if you're receiving care," Loeckenhoff said.

The findings have implications for the millions of Americans who provide informal eldercare. In 2011, 16 percent of the U.S. population over age 15 -- and nearly 25 percent of those between 45 and 64 years of age -- provided some eldercare, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The care recipient's personality is just as important a factor for caregiver health as chronic pain and physical impairment," said lead author Catherine Riffin, a graduate student in the field of human development. "Clinical evaluations of caregiving settings should take this into account."

Other co-authors are Karl Pillemer, the Hazel E. Reed Professor in Cornell's Department of Human Development, Bruce Friedman of the University of Rochester and Paul T. Costa Jr., Duke University School of Medicine.

The research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging.

Sarah Cutler '16 is a student communications assistant for the College of Human Ecology.

By Ted Boscia
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, December 10, 2012

Exner-Cortens

Teenagers in physically or psychologically aggressive dating relationships are more than twice as likely to repeat such damaging relationships as adults and report increased substance use and suicidal feelings years later, compared with teens with healthy dating experiences, reports a new Cornell study.

The findings suggest the need for parents, schools and health care providers to talk to teenagers about dating violence, given its long-reaching effects on adult relationships and mental health, the researchers say.

Published online Dec. 10 in the journal Pediatrics, the paper is the first longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample to show links between teen dating violence and later multiple adverse health outcomes in young adults. The authors found that teen girls and boys reported aggressive experiences in relationships nearly equally, with 30 percent of males and 31 percent of females in the study showing a history of physical and/or psychological dating violence.

"Teens are experiencing their first romantic relationships, so it could be that aggressive relationships are skewing their view of what's normal and healthy and putting them on a trajectory for future victimization," said lead author Deinera Exner-Cortens, M.A. '10, a doctoral student in the field of human development in the College of Human Ecology. "In this regard, we found evidence that teen relationships can matter a great deal over the long run."

Exner-Cortens and her co-authors analyzed a sample of 5,681 American heterosexual youths ages 12-18 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who were interviewed as teens and approximately five years later as young adults about their dating experiences and mental and behavioral health. Participants were asked if a partner had ever used insults, name-calling or disrespect in front of others; had sworn at them; threatened violence; pushed or shoved them; or thrown objects that could hurt them. About 20 percent of teen respondents reported psychological violence only, 9 percent reported physical and psychological violence, and 2 percent reported physical violence alone.

In young adulthood, females who had experienced teen dating violence reported increased depression symptoms and were 1.5 times more likely to binge drink or smoke and twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts. Males who had experienced teen dating violence reported more anti-social behaviors, were 1.3 times more likely to use marijuana and twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts. The study controlled for pubertal development, child maltreatment history and a range of socio-demographic factors.

"In addition to clarifying potential long-term impacts of teen dating violence victimization, our study highlights the importance of talking to all adolescents about dating and dating violence," Exner-Cortens said. "This includes prioritizing teen dating violence screening during clinical visits and developing health care-based interventions for responding to adolescents who are in unhealthy relationships, in order to help reduce future health problems in these teens."

Study co-authors are John Eckenrode, Cornell professor of human development and director of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, and Emily Rothman at the Boston University School of Public Health. The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Ted Boscia is assistant director of communications for the College of Human Ecology.

By Sam Wolken
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, September 26, 2012

Julie Avrutine '15, majoring in human development in the College of Human Ecology, leads New York City teens through curricula designed to improve their decision-making about sexual health and healthy eating and fitness. Avrutine worked under human development professor Valerie Reyna and Cornell University Cooperative Extension New York City educators on the project, "Interventions for Risk Reduction and Avoidance in Adolescents."
- Mark Vorreuter

This past summer, 21 Cornell students tackled such problems as invasive stink bugs, lack of sexual education in inner-city neighborhoods and weeds on school grounds, working with faculty members and gaining research experience while touching the lives of New Yorkers through the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Summer Internship Program.

On Sept. 24, faculty, staff and community members gathered in Statler Hall to celebrate the accomplishments of the interns, each of whom presented a three-panel poster summarizing his or her research and discussed the internship experience.

Alexandra Gensemer '13 joined Nancy Wells, associate professor of design and environmental analysis, to explore a ground-up approach to school nutrition called Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth. In collaboration with three other universities, participants in the project planted more than 50 gardens in schools in Arkansas, Iowa, New York and Washington. The program provides nutritious food to elementary school students while educating them about health and gardening. Gensemer collected and analyzed data on the energy and well-being of the children and assisted with planting gardens.

Ariel Hart '13, left, a biology and society major in Human Ecology, leads a team of Cornell students at an in-home visit with a Tompkins County family for a project directed by Gary Evans, professor of human development and of design and environmental analysis, to assess how environmental factors influence child development. - Mark Vorreuter

Susan Weibman '13 spent her second consecutive summer studying the marmorated stink bug in New York with Peter Jentsch, senior extension associate. Weibman explained that the stink bug, an agricultural pest, first entered the United States in 1998 aboard a Chinese cargo ship and has spread rapidly since. Weibman measured populations of stink bugs near orchards in Ulster County. Her results showed a dramatic increase in the New York stink bug population over the past year. She also researched natural methods of curbing the stink bug population.

To research the exercise habits and cultural identity of immigrant children in rural areas, Roxana Orellana '13 spent her summer in Wayne County. She worked with children between the ages of 10 and 14 on a project led by senior lecturer Pilar Parra called Healthy Bodies and Healthy Minds: Cultivating Identity With Immigrant Children. Through the project, children were taught about exercise, nutrition and programs available to them for staying active. Orellana focused on fostering a sense of belonging and pride in the community among the children.

Alexandra Gensemer '13, majoring in design and environmental analysis, aided DEA associate professor Nancy Wells in "Healthy Gardens, Health Youth," a national project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study how school gardens might enhance educational outcomes and encourage children to eat more fruits and vegetables. - Mark Vorreuter

Many students concluded that the most rewarding aspect of the summer was connecting with the people whose lives their work affected. Julie Avrutine '13 taught a sexual health curriculum in New York City and remarked, "The best part was that I thought that I knew everything about the program, but in reality when you go into different neighborhoods and you see all different phases of adolescence and what they can teach you, it really is phenomenal."

For some of the interns, the experience didn't end with the beginning of the new school year. Orellana, as well as others, will rejoin her project working full time following graduation.

CCE has offered internships combining research and community involvement since 2007. CCE partners with faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology and the ILR School to apply Cornell's resources to state and national needs.

Sam Wolken '14 is a student intern for the Cornell Chronicle.

By Rachel Sumner

Sumner

This summer I taught the Thinking Like a Scientist class as part of the 4H Career Explorations program. The Thinking Like a Scientist curriculum was designed by my advisor Wendy Williams, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology. It consists of a number of modules covering science topics that are of interest to teens. As the instructor of this summer’s 3-day session, I chose which topics we’d cover, presented the material to students, and led discussions with the 24 students in this year’s class.

 After teaching this class last year, someone told me that the way the class goes totally depends on the group of students in the class, and I was surprised to learn just how true this is: Last year's group enjoyed thinking about future experiments that could be done, this year's group preferred discussing relevant experiments that have already been done. One year's group liked breaking into smaller groups for discussions, while the other year's group would rather have a discussion all together. One group of students seemed to enjoy building on each other’s ideas, and the other group reveled in respectfully challenging each other’s ideas.

I think one of the best parts of the Thinking Like a Scientist class is its flexibility. Taking part in this class gives students the tools to think about topics that matter to them in a scientific way. Topics like bullying and teen suicide, which have been in the news frequently but are not part of the Thinking Like a Scientist curriculum, were clearly on students' minds. Having the flexibility to discuss these important topics and encourage students to approach them in a scientific way seemed to be beneficial for the students.

The students' favorite part of this year's Thinking Like a Scientist class was probably having lunch with graduate students from different science and engineering fields. They had the opportunity to ask questions about applying to college, deciding what to study, and what kinds of things you get to do as a psychologist, physicist, electrical engineer, or natural resource scientist. Taking part in this discussion reminded me how teens are often equally enthusiastic and nervous about the future, but it’s heartening to see them grapple with serious questions – about science, about their own lives, and about ways to improve the lives of others.

 Rachel Sumner is a graduate student in human development in the College of Human Ecology.

By Susan Kelley
Reprinted from the Cornell Chronicle, June 25, 2012

Zayas

Selcuk

Here's another reason to keep a photo of a loved one on your desk. After recalling an upsetting event, thinking about your mother or romantic partner can make you feel better and reduce your negative thinking, according to a new Cornell study. Perhaps most important, it also may result in fewer psychological and physical health problems at least a month afterward.

"Our own memories can often be a significant source of stress. For example, thinking about a recent breakup or underperforming on an exam usually decreases positive mood and increases negative thinking," said co-author Vivian Zayas, assistant professor of psychology. "However, simply thinking about an attachment figure, whether it is one's mother or partner, by either recalling a supportive interaction with them or just viewing their photograph, helps people restore their mood and decreases the tendency to engage in negative thinking."

The research is the first to explore the benefits of thinking about a loved one when a person experiences stress they generate themselves. Previous research has focused on the benefits when a person experiences externally generated stress, such as physical pain.

"We're showing the effectiveness of a new technique to cope with negative memories," said co-author Emre Selcuk, a Ph.D. candidate in the graduate field of human development. "As compared to prior work, it is a much less effortful, automatic and spontaneous strategy."

Past research has also focused on emotion regulation strategies that can be employed before encountering an upsetting event. "This approach is similar to wearing a raincoat to prevent oneself from getting wet," Zayas said. "But, in everyday life, it is not always possible to pre-emptively deal with upsetting events. Our work shows that one way to regulate emotion after thinking about an upsetting event is by simply thinking about an attachment figure. It is akin to getting caught in a thunder shower and using a towel to dry yourself off after you are already wet."

The paper appears online and in a forthcoming edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

To arrive at their conclusions, the authors designed a series of experiments in which they asked study participants to recall a negative memory and then think of a loved one. In the first experiment, participants were asked to think about a time when their mothers had been supportive. In the second, they looked at a photograph of their mothers, and in the third, they looked at a photograph of a romantic partner. In the control condition, participants were asked to think about an interaction with an acquaintance or look at a photograph of someone they didn't know.

After being reminded of their loved ones, people recovered faster and were less susceptible to negative thinking. At least one month after the experiment, those who benefited the most from being reminded of the loved ones reported fewer physical or psychological health problems.

The research has implications for mental and physical health, the authors say, because an inability to cope with negative memories -- that is, recalling them repeatedly -- is a major predictor of psychological and physical health problems from depression and general anxiety disorders to cardiovascular disease.

And the technique is easy to integrate into daily life, Selcuk said. "If you're moving to a new city, put a picture of your loved ones on the fridge. If you get a supportive text message from a loved one, just store it in your cell phone so you can retrieve it later."

The other authors are Cornell's Gül Günaydin, a Ph.D. candidate in the field of psychology, and Cindy Hazan, associate professor of human development, and Ethan Kross, assistant processor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

The research was supported by Cornell's Institute for the Social Sciences and the President's Council of Cornell Women.

By Karene Booker

Jessie Boas

Boas

Meghan McDarby

McDarby

Two Cornell undergraduates have been pursuing their respective passions for working with older adults and solving problems in underserved communities by tackling the burden of chronic pain among minorities.

Over the past year, Meghan McDarby ’14 and Jessie Boas ‘13 delved into the research on how persistent pain affects different racial, ethnic and age groups under the guidance of sociologist Elaine Wethington, professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology and co-director of Cornell’s Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL).

Their conclusion - minorities are at greater risk and are less likely to receive adequate care, and the problem may grow as America’s population ages and becomes increasingly diverse. The causes of the inequities are not simple, they found, ranging from factors like individual differences in pain sensitivity and beliefs about medical care, to provider factors like less effective pain assessment and communication with patients, to systemic factors like differing access to health care.

 “I think I have learned more about being a successful physician from this research than I have from any pre-med prerequisite,” said McDarby, a human development major and aspiring geriatrician. McDarby discovered her passion for older adults in high school through a chance volunteer experience at her local hospital and has pursued this passion through her coursework and activities at Cornell.

“This project sparked my interest in policy and public health issues,” she said. “I’ve realized that the sociological aspects of the practice of medicine are just as important as the biological and psychological principles.”

The students prepared their findings for a Pain Disparities Consensus Workshop, convened in December by TRIPLL, which brought researchers and practitioners together to develop strategies to address inequities in pain care in New York City.

“Our paper served as a springboard for collaborative and interactive discussion on pain disparities and related issues,” said Boas, a sociology major in the College of Arts and Sciences who hopes to join the Peace Corps when she graduates. “I want to have the skill set to effectively research the problems that plague communities, and be able to initiate programs to ameliorate them.” “Meghan and I were fortunate enough to attend this conference and to discuss pain disparities with top experts in the field.”

Now the students are writing an article with Wethington and TRIPLL Director Dr. Cary Reid at Weill Cornell Medical College highlighting their findings as well as the recommendations generated by the conference.

After spending months on the literature review, the highlight of the project came when she met Dr. Carmen Green from the University of Michigan, upon whose work the literature review was based. “Meeting strong, dedicated women like Dr. Green and Professor Wethington has given me the courage to move forward full-force into the healthcare field,” said McDarby.

 “Meghan and Jessie are outstanding examples of how involvement in research is one of the major advantages of a Cornell undergraduate education and a “win-win” for faculty and students,” Wethington said.  “They have brought incredible energy and intelligence to this project and their involvement has helped them apply what they have learned in the classroom to real world issues. Dr. Reid and I have benefited from their commitment and dedication and they have laid the groundwork for their future careers.”

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.

By Christa Nianiatus
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, May 3, 2012

ClintonStudents

Cornell students meet with former President Bill Clinton and Cornell Board of Trustees Chair Robert Harrison '76 at the Clinton Global Initiative University conference in Washington, D.C. First row from left, Christine Cummings, Amy Mitchell '13, Alexis Werth '13, Annabel Fowler '12, Jaime Freilich '13, Alex Bores '13. Second row from left, Karim Abouelnaga '14, Philip Gatto '12, Amundam "Moonie" Mancho '13, Maneesha Chitanvis '13, Valerie Titus-Glover '13, Kennedy Ogoye '12, Ryan Yeh '13, George Hornedo '13. Photo: Adam Schultz, Clinton Global Initiative

For her drive to make Ithaca a more accessible community for the elderly and the disabled, Jaime Freilich '13, a human development major in the College of Human Ecology, was named a campus representative for the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU).

Founded by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, CGIU seeks to connect college students to address social or environmental challenges with practical, innovative solutions. Campus representatives are expected to make a "Commitment to Action" to create goals and take steps to solve a local concern.

Freilich was one of the 14 Cornell campus representatives and commitment mentors (previous campus representatives who advise other students) who attended CGIU's annual conference March 30-April 1. They were among more than 1,000 college students who attended the conference to represent their Commitments to Action on international or domestic projects on education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.

Freilich has been actively fulfilling CGIU's service mission throughout the year.

"It's a support network, really," Freilich said. "The goal is to bring people together who are like-minded, in that they all are actively bringing about some change that they want to see in the world. [CGIU] provides mentorship, guidance and resources to help us with aspects of our commitment."

Freilich -- a member of Ithaca's Disability Advisory Council, which counsels Mayor Svante Myrick '09 on accessibility matters -- was selected for the honor because of her commitment to educating others on disability and elder issues and for improving her community with "new, measurable solutions." The council has advocated for the disabled and elderly and brought their concerns to city leaders. For instance, Freilich said, they have raised the issue that several public buildings in downtown Ithaca have heavy doors and lack automatic door controls, limiting access to these spaces. The council also reviews city development projects to ensure that accessibility concerns are taken into consideration.

Freilich first became interested in these issues after taking a course last year on disability and employment policy. "I've always known that I wanted to help people in some way," Freilich said. "The course is what ended up motivating me to get involved."

The following summer she began work as a research assistant at the ILR School's Employment and Disability Institute, where she became familiar with accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the many overlooked issues faced by people with disabilities.

"That's why the education component was so important to me," Freilich said. "If you're making accessibility accommodations, it's very important that people understand that they are in existence and why they're in existence."

Freilich also volunteers as a Human Ecology Ambassador, advising prospective students about college life and the student experience.

Christa Nianiatus '13 is a student communications assistant for the College of Human Ecology

By Dani Corona
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, April 10, 2012

patchkits

PATCH members Chloe Michel '13, Sindhuja Ranganathan '13, Sharjeel Chaudhry '13, Boris Nektalov '13 and Stephen Sammons '14 examine materials to be packaged into the kits for Haitian students.

A group of Cornell undergraduates are assembling and donating low-cost science kits to aid impoverished children in Haiti, hoping to inspire a love of learning and to strengthen the country's future. If the project succeeds, similar kits could be used as educational tools for developing nations in post-disaster recovery around the world.

Members of the Pre-professional Association Toward Careers in Health (PATCH), a student group sponsored by the College of Human Ecology, packaged 60 kits -- with such items as plastic test tubes, jump ropes, colorful inflatable balls, air pumps and stopwatches -- at a banquet attended by some 200 students April 6.

With the help of the disaster relief organization Humanity First, which awarded PATCH $2,000, the supplies will be bound for fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms at a school near Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital.

Sharjeel Chaudhry '13, a human biology, health and society major and PATCH co-president, and a committee of 10 other students developed the plan after hearing of Haiti's dire state following the 2010 earthquake. "We wanted to help the kids ... who pretty much lost everything, by developing their interests in health and the sciences," said Chaudhry, who will deliver the kits this summer with two other Cornell students.

The kits contain photo illustrations for basic experiments and are designed to be reusable. Rather than give textbooks, the PATCH members favored supplies that would spur hands-on learning. Chaudhry said, "The goal is to trigger intellectual curiosity."

The kits are designed to supplement traditional classroom instruction, with lessons in fundamental areas of biology, physics and health that link scientific concepts to relevant national issues in Haiti. For instance, PATCH members created an experiment on how environmental conditions affect seed growth and plant life to educate the children about deforestation, a concern in Haiti. Another lesson involves assessing cardiovascular health, where the students would measure pulse and breathing in response to physical activity.

Spreading a passion for science through community service is one of the objectives of PATCH, an organization open to all Cornell undergraduates. It provides support, advising, programming and networking opportunities, and it fosters close connections between faculty members and students to enrich the student experience.

In addition to the science kits, PATCH regularly assists Loaves and Fishes, a local soup kitchen, where members offer nutrition talks and weekly medical checkups.

Emily Lopes '13, human biology, health and society major and PATCH co-president, finds she often applies concepts from anatomy, nutrition and other classes at the Loaves and Fishes health screenings.

"What you learn in class that day you can apply in your presentations," she said.

As PATCH continues to aid students in premedical preparation, it balances career planning and service through its work. "Our members aren't just doing PATCH as a resume builder," said Chaudhry, "they are doing things for the purpose of community service -- for the purpose of their love for humanity."

The Haiti project was also supported by two $500 grants from the Human Ecology Alumni Association. PATCH welcomes additional donations for the project, which the students hope to expand for next year.

Dani Corona '15 is a student communications assistant in the College of Human Ecology.

 

The work of  Human Development graduate students Emily Kahoe and Deinera Exner-Cortens is featured on the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research website.

Emily Kahoe Chen is a research assistant with Karl Pillemer with whom she works on two primary projects. The Resident-to-Resident Elder Mistreatment project is an ongoing investigation of resident-to-resident aggression (RRA) in nursing homes. The second project, recently completed, was focused on the dissemination of the Method for Program Adaptation through Community Engagement (M-PACE). M-PACE is an innovative method for the adaptation of evidence-based programs that uses systematic and detailed feedback from program participants to guide adaptation.

Deinera Exner-Cortens has assisted with several projects at the BCTR, including the Nurse Family Partnership study (PI: John Eckenrode) and a project investigating the use of orders of protection by teens in New York State. Deinera's primary project for the past two years has been the Complementary Strengths study (PI: Jennifer Tiffany), where she has assisted with the development of a new measure for assessing youth program participation, and investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between program participation and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. In the spring of 2012, Deinera will be transitioning to the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior (PI: Janis Whitlock). During her time at the BCTR, Deinera also helped create a translational research database for use by center staff and research associates.

Read the full profiles of these students and others