Roundtables

Kristen Hinckley is a PhD student at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Switzerland, working on a digital parenting intervention RCT for child development and parental wellbeing in Peru. Previously, she taught Kindergarten in Peru and holds a B.A. from Dartmouth and an Ed.M. from Harvard.

Rachel is Global Co-ordinator for Baby Ubuntu: early care and support for children with developmental disabilities. She has worked on the programme the since its inception, and leads on programme development and implementation. She is passionate about working with families of children with developmental disabilities in a participatory way.

Suzanne Kerns is the Director of Transformative Research at the Kempe Center. Her focus is on enhancing the wellbeing of children and families through ensuring access to proven-effective treatment approaches. She is the PI for an evidence clearinghouse and past president of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration. Dr. Samuel J. Maddox earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Morehouse College and went on to earn his Doctorate in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Maddox provides school and community-based services through consultation and program evaluation to promote positive growth in the individual and the community as whole. Dr. Maddox works diligently to integrate research, teaching and community engagement into his therapeutic practice.

Dr Cher McGillivray is an Assistant Professor at Bond University and registered Clinical Psychologist, researcher, speaker, writer and media commentator on children, families and community wellbeing. Cher focuses on positive social change and advocates for the rights and wellbeing of children and restoring familial foundations for families and communities that care for them. Her research endeavors on childhood maltreatment, complex trauma and posttraumatic growth aim to foster a deeper understanding of these critical issues, facilitating more effective responses within the realms of policy, public health, and the legal system to better respond and ultimately prevent of childhood maltreatment. She is currently developing a Parenting Beyond Trauma Intervention, Moral Injury Assessment of Childhood Maltreatment; and researching self-compassion, mindfulness, and posttraumatic growth. Her research also involves bridging the gap between victim and victim offenders to ultimately empower victims and reduce gendered based violence.

Darlene Koh is a doctoral researcher, whose research takes a community-centered approach, through co-design methods, to support parenting and adolescent mental health in Malaysia. By bridging psychology and design innovation in cultural adaptation processes, Koh hopes to foster collaborative efforts across disciplines to improve parental mental health literacy in Malaysia.

Karen is a perinatal mental health researcher focusing on women’s and men’s transition to parenthood, including their mental health, relationships and experiences of engaging with health services. She is the President of the Australasian Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health, and C0-convenor of the annual Australian Fatherhood Research Symposium.

Katie is a third-year Clinical Psychology PhD student aiming to strengthen frontline child welfare practice and wellbeing through her research. Katie has direct experience as a frontline child protection worker as she has been employed by Child and Youth Protection Services (CYPS) in the Capital of Australia since 2018.

Jane Kohlhoff is an Associate Professor in the University of New South Wales Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, and Director of Research at Karitane, Australia. She conducts clinical and translational research in perinatal, infant and early childhood mental health.

Ari Pratiwi is a psychologist and a lecturer in Indonesia. Currently, she is a PhD student in Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of Queensland. Her PhD project focused on “Father involvement in Indonesia”.

Divya Gosain is a licensed clinician with 6 years of experience of working with children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families. Currently, pursuing PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester with research focus on parental wellbeing. Working as Programme Coordinator within NAMASTE, a global health research unit in south Asia.

Sarah Whittle is a Professorial Fellow at the NHMRC Career Development Centre for Youth Mental Health. Her primary research interest is around individual differences in child and adolescent brain development. In particular, she is interested in investigating how environmental factors shape trajectories of brain development. Further, she is interested in understanding how individual differences in brain development contribute to emotional and social functioning, and the development of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

Tianyi received his Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons 1) from The University of Queensland (UQ) in 2021 and was awarded the McElwain Prize for the best psychology honours thesis. His PhD, at the UQ Parenting and Family Support Centre, is investigating the benefits of providing universal parenting support programs in educational settings for children, families, and teachers. He is skilled in complex quantitative analyses, large-scale survey and systematic review methodologies, as well as research project management. Tianyi believes that school provides a destigmatised context to engage with parents, and school has an essential role in promoting the well-being of children at the population level.

Dr. Haneen Watad, a lecturer and researcher in special education, focuses on young children with special needs. She mentors in special and inclusive schools and is part of a research lab on early childhood. Her work advances inclusive education and tailored programs to enhance outcomes for children with special needs.

Ms Ralston oversees the global strategic development and execution of Special Olympics' early childhood and preventive health programming. Ashlyn Smith holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from Georgia State University. She leads evaluation efforts of Special Olympics programming both domestic and international. She has a primary role in the evaluation of both health and non-health programs including Unified Champion Schools, early childhood development, and global health programming. Dr. Smith also supports strategic planning and agenda-setting for the larger  Special Olympics organization.

Dr Wan has been based at the University of Manchester (UK) for over two decades, conducting research in parent-infant interactions in the contexts of emerging neurodivergent behaviour and perinatal mental health. Ming has been involved in multicentre intervention trials and specialises in observational and qualitative research.

Lukiya Kibone is a distinguished ECD specialist and practitioner, with over a decade of experience. She has participated in shaping Uganda's National ECD policy by providing technical expertise and on-the-ground implementation. Renowned for building stakeholder capacity at local and National level to strengthen ECD systems.

Dr Martina Curtin is a clinical academic Speech and Language Therapist (SLT). She is the clinical lead for an SLT service for deaf children and their families in London. In her research, Martina has coproduced an evidence-based, family-centred tool that identifies the parent behaviours within interaction that support child development.

Dr Holzman's research interests focus on how children and parents affect each other as well as ways to improve early childhood interventions. He investigates how difficulties with self-regulation (e.g., emotion regulation, executive functioning) and adverse social determinants of health (e.g., experiencing poverty, crowded housing, inaccessible healthcare) affect responses to early childhood mental health interventions. His current projects focus on identifying factors impeding benefits to brief, scalable, and accessible parenting interventions and adaptations needed to improve the effectiveness of these interventions for both young children in their caregivers.

Megan Dolbin-MacNab's research focuses on grandfamilies, or families in which grandparents are raising their grandchildren. Grandparents raising grandchildren have been described as an at-risk population due to the stressors (e.g., financial, legal, parenting) associated with raising grandchildren and the well-documented negative physical and mental health outcomes they experience. She employs qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods to generate knowledge related to the impact of family dynamics on grandparent and grandchild well-being, the effectiveness of family-based interventions for grandfamilies, and contextual and intersectional influences on custodial grandparents and their grandchildren. She is also committed to translating her research findings to policy and practice. Her clinical expertise relates to couple therapy, children in therapy, and in applications of family therapy to aging families. As a supervisor, she supports students in developing their skills related to case management, theory-driven interventions, and use of process (vs. content) to facilitate change.

Dr Julie Hodges is currently a Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland. She is a clinical psychologist and former teacher. Julie has a track record of success in conducting research relevant to schools and publishing in peer reviewed journals. Twelve years spent ‘at the coal face’ in Queensland primary and secondary schools combined with her work as a trainer in the delivery of parenting programs to parenting practitioners has allowed Julie to develop an understanding of the relationship between home and school from the perspective of both stakeholders. Julie’s research interests draw on her background as a teacher and her more recent experience as a clinical psychologist. She is keenly interested in supporting the wellbeing and self-regulatory capacity of children and adolescents and the influence that developing a positive relationship between schools and families can have on young people’s developmental outcomes.

Samantha is a PhD Candiate at the Australian National University and a Registered Psychologist. Samantha's research and practice interests include working with parents to provide psychological support for child mental health difficulties.

Harshita is an early-career researcher with a strong academic foundation in psychology. She currently works as a Project Coordinator in the field of Early Childhood Development, where she focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at improving health of mother and child.

Karen Turner is a clinical psychologist, research academic and Deputy Director of the Parenting and Family Support Centre at The University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the impact of evidence-based parenting support on child, family and community outcomes. Arvind Ponnapalli is a clinical psychologist and PhD candidate. He has worked in the Cherbourg Community Health Service for over 10 years and provides early intervention and assessment services to the community.. Cari completed her undergraduate training in Canada and PhD in Australia. Her research interests are in mental health, epigenetics, and the effects of colonisation that continues to oppress Indigenous Peoples globally, effects of racism, social change/justice, and child and family wellbeing. Maureen is the founder of CADAMIC, a civil society organization in Kenya that works with vulnerable communities including women, children and persons with disability. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Project Planning and Management.

Catherine is a Principal Research Specialist at the Parenting Research Centre, bringing over two decades of experience in social policy research and program evaluation. She has led and contributed to numerous high-impact projects across Australia, including evaluations of trauma-informed services, perinatal mental health screening, and intensive family support programs aimed at preventing out-of-home care placements. Her work also includes population-level surveys on parenting and the developmental evaluation of early childhood programs such as HIPPY Age 3. Catherine’s expertise spans quantitative and qualitative research design, longitudinal data analysis, and continuous practice improvement. She has a strong interest in improving outcomes for families experiencing vulnerability, disability, and disadvantage. Before joining the Centre, Catherine worked as a psychologist in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Specialist Children’s Services with the Victorian Government.

Coming soon...

Dr Joyeuse Ukwishaka is a pediatrician and junior researcher. She currently lives in Rwanda, Kigali, and works for IntraHealth International / USAID Ingobyi Activity as a Maternal Newborn and Child Death Audit Advisor. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree (MBChB) in Medicine and Surgery from the National University of Rwanda and a Master of Medicine (MMed) in Pediatrics and Child Health from the University of Rwanda. She holds a PgCert in Public Health from University of Edinburgh in the UK, and has a Master’s in Public Health Methodology from Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. She has a particular interest in implementation science, with a focus on research on children and parenting Dr. Joyeuse has eight years of clinical experience in different hospitals in Rwanda as well as two years of experience in the field of public health. Joyeuse is a powerful force in the workplace and uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and achieve success

Gabriela holds a Master's degree in Public Health and is currently pursuing a PhD, focusing on the intersection of migration, child care, and child development.

Ms Jacqui Brown is an internationally experienced implementation consultant in the field of non-profit children, youth and family services with particular knowledge and expertise in systems, management, inter and intra-organisational integration and implementation science and practice. Successful achievements include implementation of region-wide, multi-agency interventions, large-scale planned organisational change, programme design and development, budget development and management. As a human service system integration expert and a registered Social Worker (OCSWSS) I bring the perspectives of organisational change, administration, and service delivery to the environments to which I am contributing. Currently working globally with affiliations in the Netherlands, Canada and Australia.

Brianna Ricker is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Texas Tech University. Her research and clinical interests focus on child development and evidence-based parenting interventions. Brianna is currently coordinating a research project offering free online positive parenting seminars for parents of children aged 2–12. These seminars are designed to support healthy child development, promote positive behavior, manage misbehavior, build parental confidence, and help children develop emotional resilience and competence. Victoria Dennis earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with minors in both Forensic Science and Philosophy from Texas Tech University in 2020. While earning her B.A. she worked as a senior research assistant under both Dr. Robert Morgan in the Criminal Risk and Inmate Mental Health (CRIM) Lab and Dr. Adam Schmidt in the Pathways to Resilient Youth Development (PRYDe) Lab.