Chat with Leaders

   Michael Cunningham holds the academic rank of Professor at Tulane University; and he has a joint faculty appointment in the Departments of Psychology Africana Studies. He also serves as the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research in Tulane University’s Office of Academic Affairs. Dr. Cunningham is a developmental psychologist with a program of research that focuses on racial, ethnic, psychosocial, and socioeconomic processes that affect psychological well‐being, adjustment to chronic stressful events, and academic achievement among African American adolescents and their families. He uses mixed methods in his research projects that includes the study of gender‐specific patterns of resilience and vulnerability in urban African American participants. Dr. Cunningham has received external funding from several sources including the National Science Foundation, The National Institutes of Health, The Mellon Foundation, the Louisiana Board of Regents, and The U.S. Department of Education. 

He has received Tulane’s highest teaching award and been designated as a Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow. He completed his doctoral work at Emory University after completing an undergraduate degree at Morehouse College. Dr. Cunningham also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. His professional service includes serving as Editor-in-chief for Research in Human Development (2018-2024). He served as a Senior Editor for the American Educational Research Journal (2018-2022). He has severed on several journal editorial boards such as the Journal of Negro Education, Child Development of which he was an Associate Editor from 2007-2019. Most recently, he was selected as the recipient for the 2025 Norman Anderson Lifetime Achievement Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Award from the Federation for Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS); and in 2025 he was elected to Fellow Status for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

 Dr. Meeta Banerjee is currently an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Community Psychology program and a faculty affiliate of the African American Studies program at the University of South Carolina. She received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Ecological-Community Psychology with a specialization in Applied Developmental Science. Dr. Banerjee’s work primarily focuses on how race-related protective factors, such as ethnic-racial socialization and ethnic-racial identity, function in the lives of ethnically/racially minoritized youth and young adults within the contexts of neighborhoods, racial discrimination and community violence. Dr. Banerjee is particularly interested in exploring these components in the mental health and academic outcomes of minoritized populations in local, national, and international settings.   

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• Table Topics: Research design / methodology guidance

 Dr. Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards (she/her) is a developmental psychologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University whose research examines how structural racism, gender, and culture shape health and development across the lifespan, with a focus on African American families and youth. She serves as Chair of the SRCD Black Caucus and has several leadership roles throughout Duke University and Duke Health. Her research has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, IBM, and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bentley-Edwards shares her expertise on the causes and consequences of structural racism and bias in health, education and social outcomes with families, schools, policymakers, practitioners, and the media. She welcomes conversations with junior scholars working on issues related to racism, Black women and girls, health, and/or equity-centered research methods. Come say hello!

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• Table Topics: Public Engagement / Policy Communication

   Dr. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn is the Virginia and Leonard Marx Emerita Professor of Child Development at Teachers College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Her research focuses on biological and social transitions through childhood, adolescence and adulthood, as well as the environmental factors (such as parental education, income, mental health and stability, as well as neighborhood conditions) that enhance and constrain well-being and changes in wellbeing over time. She also conducts evaluations of national and multi-site interventions for children and has been involved in multiple longitudinal studies following children and families over several decades. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received lifetime awards for her policy infused work from SRCD, SRA, APA, APS, NIH, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and AASPS.

• Table Topic: Translating research into policy and practice

Dr. Natasha J. Cabrera is Professor of Human Development at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on mothering and fathering behaviors and children’s social and cognitive development; adaptive and maladaptive factors related to parenting; cultural variation in ethnic minority families; and the mechanisms linking early experiences to children’s school readiness. 

She is the co-editor of the Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 2nd Edition (Taylor & Francis, 2013) and co-author of How Fathers Help their Children Develop: Money & Love (Cambridge Univ Press, 2025). 

She is the Editor-in-chief of SRCD Monographs and the recipient of the National Council and Family Relations award for Best Research Article regarding men in families in 2009. She was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences committee on parents of young children, was a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar; and, and a visiting scholar, University of Ruhr, Germany. 

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   Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson is an Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of Social Work. She earned her PhD in Clinical and Community Psychology from the University of Virginia, completed a Clinical and Community Psychology Residency at Yale University’s School of Medicine, and a Fellowship in Applied Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Anderson uses mixed methods to study discrimination and racial socialization in Black families, translating her findings to help families heal from racial stress and trauma. Her research focuses on how family-based interventions can improve Black youth’s psychosocial well-being and health-related behaviors. She is the developer and director of the EMBRace (Engaging, Managing, and Bonding through Race) intervention and the Founder and CEO of RACE Space Inc. Her work has been supported by the Ford, Robert Wood Johnson, and W.T. Grant Foundations, the National Institutes of Health, and the Society for Research in Child Development. A committed public scholar, Dr. Anderson frequently shares her insights through blogs, media, and public talks, with appearances in The New York Times, CNN, The Today Show, and The Times London. Nationally, she serves on the APA’s Children, Youth, and Families Committee, SRCD’s Equity & Justice Committee, and SRA’s Anti-Racism Task Force, and consults with organizations including Google, YouTube, and Nickelodeon. Recognized with over twenty national awards, Dr. Anderson is dedicated to fostering racial healing through research, mentorship, and public engagement. Finally, Dr. Anderson was born in, raised for, and returned to Detroit and is becoming increasingly addicted to cake pops.

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• Table Topics: Networking or introductions / Career or professional development guidance

Dr. Florrie Fei-Yin Ng is Professor and Chair in the Department of Educational Psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After earning a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she received postdoctoral training at New York University and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her research focuses on understanding how children’s development is shaped by sociocultural contexts and key socialization agents, with an emphasis on the role of parenting. At SRCD, she served as an Associate Editor of Child Development and is currently a member of the Publications Committee.

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• Table Topics: Networking strategies in global research communities / Writing for an international audience

Dr. Jessica Fish is Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research examines how interpersonal, institutional, and sociopolitical contexts influence LGBTQ+ youth development and health. Her work focuses on family relationships, school experiences, community environments, and public policies as key determinants of youth well-being. Drawing on developmental science, population health, and family systems perspectives, she investigates both the factors that contribute to health inequities and the conditions that foster resilience, thriving, and positive development. Through interdisciplinary research, she seeks to generate evidence that advances scientific understanding and informs interventions, programs, and policies that support LGBTQ+ youth and their families.

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• Table Topics: Advice on publishing and peer review / Research design or methodology guidance
   

Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek is the Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in Psychology at Temple University, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Visiting Professor at Oxford University. Her research examines the development of early language and literacy, the role of play in learning and learning and technology. She is the author of 17 books and hundreds of publications, has won numerous awards in her field including being inducted into the National Academy of Education and the Association of Children’s Museum’s Best Friend to Kids Award. Vested in translating science for lay and professional audiences, her Becoming Brilliant, released in 2016 was on the NYTimes Best Seller List in Education. Her book Making Schools Work was released in late Fall of 2022 and Einstein Never used Flashcards was re-released in January of 2026.

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• Table Topic: Public Engagement

Dr. Lionel Howard is an applied developmental psychologist and research methodologist  who conducts community- and school-based research. His research interests focus broadly on gender socialization and identity development across multiple contexts (e.g., school, family, and community) and the interface between identity and academic achievement. Dr. Howard’s research has been funded by NIH, NSF and Kellogg Foundation, and published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Journal of Black Psychology, Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Journal of Boyhood, International Journal of Inclusive Education, Journal of Homosexuality, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Urban Education and Harvard Educational Review. He is the co-editor of Facing Racism in Education (3rd Ed), published by Harvard University Press, and has served as a consultant on education policy and evaluation studies. Dr. Howard has served on the Executive Committee of the SRCD Black Caucus (Treasurer) and co-chaired the Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee. 

Dr. Howard received his Ed.D. in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, and completed a National Institute of Child Health and Development postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Department of Psychology and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. He also has a M.A. in Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation from the University of Maryland, College Park, and B.A. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Dr. Howard is the Founder/President of LCH Research & Evaluation, LLC.

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   Brian Nosek co-developed the Implicit Association Test, a method that advanced research and public interest in implicit bias. Nosek co-founded three non-profit organizations: Project Implicit to advance research and education about implicit bias (http://projectimplicit.net/), the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science to improve the research culture in his home discipline (http://improvingpsych.org/), and the Center for Open Science (COS; http://cos.io/) to improve rigor, transparency, integrity, and reproducibility across research disciplines. 

Nosek is Executive Director of COS and a professor at the University of Virginia. Nosek’s research and applied interests are to understand why people and systems produce behaviors that are contrary to intentions and values; to develop, implement, and evaluate solutions to align practices with values; and to improve research credibility and cultures to accelerate progress.

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  Dr. Vaishali Raval is professor of psychology and affiliate of global and intercultural studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Through her research, teaching, and service, she is committed to addressing the historic exclusion of global communities in developmental science. Her primary program of research focuses on cultural and contextual foundations of parenting, emotion processes, and how they relate to child and adolescent mental health outcomes in families in Asia, with a specific focus on India. Additional lines of research include global mental health and racial/ethnic discrimination, socialization, and mental health. She has worked to promote global developmental science through roles as the chair/co-chair of SRCD and SRA’s international committee, chair the US National Committee for Psychological Science (USNC/IUPsyS), and associate editor roles for Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, and Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.

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• Table Topic: Networking strategies in global research communities

   Dr. Stephen Russell (he/him) is Foundation Professor and Director of the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. He is an expert in adolescent and young adult health, with a focus on sexual orientation and gender identity. His 2016 book, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Schooling: The Nexus of Research, Practice and Policy, won awards from the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research on Adolescence. He was President of the Society for Research on Adolescence (2012-2014), and has served on the governing boards of: the Society for Research in Child Development; the Council on Contemporary Families; the National Scientific Council on Adolescence; and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Board on Children, Youth and Families. He is a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations and is an elected member of the National Academy of Education.

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Dr. Shannon Snapp is a TEDx speaker, Scholar Activist, and Professor in Psychology at California State University, Monterey Bay. She is the Chair of the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Caucus within SRCD. Her research focuses on relationships and systems that support sexual and gender minority youth and young adults, using an intersectional lens. Her emergent work focuses on culturally-relevant mental health literacy and strategies for intervention/prevention of mental health disparities among underrepresented youth. She teaches a course she developed called How to Love: The Art and Science of Love and Intimacy and is writing a book based on the class. You can learn more about her work at: shannonsnapp.com.

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   Dr. Christia Spears Brown is a Professor of Developmental Psychology and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on children’s and adolescents’ understanding of discrimination, stereotypes, and social identity, and the implications of these processes for academic and developmental outcomes. She is the author of three books, including Discrimination in Childhood and Adolescence, and her research spans gender, race and ethnicity, immigration status, and economic inequality. A committed educator and public-facing scholar, she is committed to translating developmental science to broader audiences and regularly engages with educators, families, organizations, and media. She is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, President of Society for the Study of Human Development and Secretary of SRCD and has served in editorial leadership roles for several scholarly journals.

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 Dr. Nim Tottenham is a Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and Director of the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. Her research examines the development of emotional behavior and associated brain maturation. In particular, her research has highlighted the powerful role that early social experience has on brain development. She has authored over 150 journal articles and book chapters. She is a frequent lecturer both nationally and internationally on human brain and emotional development. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and of the Society for Experimental Psychologists. Her scientific contributions have been recognized by the National Institute of Mental Health BRAINS Award, the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology, the National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award and the Flux Congress Linda Spear Award. 

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   Dr. Carolina de Weerth earned a master’s degree in biology (animal behavior) from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Groningen, NL. In 2018, following the award of a prestigious personal Vici grant, Dr. de Weerth became principal investigator and group leader at Radboud University Medical Center and the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, NL. She maintains extensive national and international research collaborations. 

Dr. de Weerth conducts innovative research examining how early-life environmental exposures shape development and influence lifelong trajectories. Her work focuses on the impact of prenatal and postnatal maternal mental health complaints, as well as caregiving choices and quality, on children’s development, including physical health and behavioral regulation. To elucidate underlying mechanisms, Dr. de Weerth integrates key physiological systems and biomarkers, such as the intestinal microbiota, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, maternal milk, and telomeres.

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• Table Topic: Grant Writing

   Dr. Tiffany Yip is a developmental and community psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Fordham University, where she has been a faculty member since 2005. Her research examines ethnic and racial identity development, discrimination, sleep health disparities, and stress physiology among adolescents and young adults. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and recently edited The Cambridge Handbook of Ethnic and Racial Discrimination and Youth Development.

Dr. Yip is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research. Her honors include the Society for Research on Adolescence Outstanding Mentor Award (2023) and the Society for Research in Child Development Outstanding Contribution to Research on Asian/Asian Americans Award (2021). Her NIH- and NSF-funded research has been covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, CNN, and Scientific American. She recently chaired the NIH MESH/BPSF Study Section.

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Dr. Esther J. Calzada is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology in the School of Science and Engineering at Tulane University. A clinical child psychologist with expertise in parenting in Latinx and other minoritized families, her research focuses on the interplay of ecological factors associated with mental health and academic disparities starting in early childhood. She has a strong commitment to scientific equity, working to elucidate systemic injustices (e.g., race-based discrimination) that undermine healthy development and leverage factors that promote (e.g., ethnic-racial identity) well-being in young children. Ultimately, her program of research aims to inform preventive interventions to support mental health and achievement. Her work has been funded by the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She received her B.A. from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the University of Florida.

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Dr. Sierra Carter is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and Associate Director of the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia whose work centers on racial health disparities and maternal mortality among Black Americans. Her interdisciplinary research integrates psychology, biology, public health, and developmental science to examine how racism and trauma operate as chronic, multilevel stressors that shape health across the life course. 

Dr. Carter’s work specifically investigates how psychosocial and contextual stressors during pregnancy contribute to adverse maternal outcomes and long-term health inequities. Through federally funded research and community-engaged approaches, she identifies psychological, physiological, and social mechanisms—such as stress biomarkers and coping processes—that underlie disparities in maternal health. Committed to translational impact, her scholarship advances culturally informed, prevention-oriented interventions and amplifies dissemination to communities and policymakers. Dr. Carter’s work ultimately seeks to reduce maternal mortality and promote health equity by addressing the structural and intergenerational impacts of racism on Black women’s health.

• Professional Websites: https://psychology.uga.edu/directory/people/sierra-carter | https://www.drsierracarter.com 
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Dr. Andrew J. Fuligni is the Co-Executive Director of the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent, and a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. He is also the Director of the Adolescent Development Lab at UCLA. Fuligni earned his B.S. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on the interaction between sociocultural experiences and biobehavioral development among adolescents from diverse ethnic, immigrant, and economic backgrounds, with a current focus on youth’s prosocial behavior, contributions to their social worlds, and sleep. As the Co-Director of the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent, Dr. Fuligni works to translate and disseminate the science of adolescence to policymakers and practitioners to support efforts that promote the healthy development of diverse youth.

• Professional Websites: https://developingadolescent.ucla.edu | https://adolescence.psych.ucla.edu 

Dr. Nancy Hill has spent her career studying how adolescents imagine and chart their pathway through the teen years and into adulthood. Through research-practice partnerships, national datasets, and archival interviews, she has listened to the voices of youth and families and examined the significance of relationships and psychosocial resources for making sense of and navigating societal opportunities and constraints. She examines how race, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, and national context interrelate and shape how youth and families interpret their opportunities in an increasingly globalized context. She has developed frameworks for parental involvement in education during adolescence and for parents-young adults as they renegotiate their relationship into adulthood.

In addition to publishing in leading scientific journals, Professor Hill co-authored the book, The End of Adolescence: The Lost Art of Delaying Adulthood (2021, Harvard University Press).  She edited five books in the areas of parenting and academic achievement during adolescence and among ethnic minority families.

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Dr. Jennifer E. Lansford is the S. Malcolm Gillis Distinguished Research Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. She is a developmental psychologist whose international research has demonstrated how culture and family-level factors interact to influence human development. Her research informs scientific understanding of the etiology of health-compromising and risky behaviors from childhood to adulthood and is used to promote child wellbeing worldwide.

Dr. Lansford leads the Parenting Across Cultures Project, a longitudinal study of children, mothers, and fathers from nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.

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Dr. Jeffrey Liew is a Professor at Texas A&M University and a member of the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development. He is nationally and internationally recognized for his research on social-emotional development and emotional self-regulation from early childhood through early adulthood. His work examines how emotion and self-regulation support resilience, thriving, and flourishing in children, youth, and families. Dr. Liew has authored more than 150 scholarly publications, with his research supported by state, federal, and foundation funding. Since 2020, he has been ranked among the World’s Top 2% Scientists based on data verified by Elsevier and Stanford University. He is deeply committed to mentoring early and mid-career scholars through collaborative research, professional development, and editorial leadership. Dr. Liew serves as Editor of Early Education and Development and is an elected Fellow of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Psychological Association (APA).

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Dr. Alan Meca is an Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the director of the Team on Acculturation, Risk, and Development and Identity and Self (TARDIS). In addition, Dr. Meca is the Chair of the SRCD’s Latinx Caucus and an Associate Editor for Child Development and for the Journal of Research in Adolescence.  Broadly, Dr. Meca’s research focuses on identity development, acculturation processes, and cultural stress among minoritized and immigrant populations. His work integrates developmental, cultural, and clinical perspectives to better understand how individuals navigate complex cultural contexts. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles and secured more than $3.7 million in research funding, contributing to theory, measurement, and intervention efforts. Dr. Meca is deeply committed to mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, and his scholarship aims to advance the well-being of individuals and communities across diverse cultural contexts.

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Dr. Rashmita Mistry received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Sciences from the University of Texas, Austin and completed postdoctoral training at the Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research examines how children's and adolescents’ socioeconomic and racialized environments shape their developmental competencies; how youth perceive, reason about, and experience social and economic inequality; and the role that socialization processes play in shaping their beliefs, identities, and behaviors. Dr. Mistry's scholarship, teaching, and mentorship have been widely recognized. Her professional service includes serving on the Foundation for Child Development’s Advisory Committee for the Young Scholars Program and as the Scholars of Color Series Editor. She is past member of SRCD’s Governing Council, co-Chaired SRCD’s 2023 Biennial Meeting and was a Special Associate Editor for Child Development. She serves on the Board of Directors for MDRC and is a Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science.

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Dr. Velma McBride Murry holds the Lois Autrey Betts Endowed Chair and is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is a Past President of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Past President of the International Consortium of Developmental Science Societies, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Murry also serves as a U.S. Congressional-appointed standing member of the NIH National Advisory Mental Health Research Council. Her research investigates how context influences the daily lives of African American families and youth, focusing on how social and health disparities impact family dynamics, parenting, and health outcomes. This work has informed two randomized controlled trial (NIMH Awards): the Strong African American Families (SAAF) and Pathways for African American Success (PAAS) programs, which have shown success in preventing substance use and its negative consequences, while also promoting protective behaviors during critical developmental stages from childhood to young adulthood. Additionally, she has led two Eugene Engagement Award projects and served as PI on two NIH-funded studies aimed at evaluating family-centered preventive interventions that leverage cultural strengths in underrepresented populations.

• Professional Weebsites: https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/ | https://lab.vanderbilt.edu/caree/person/dr-velma-mcbride-murry/
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Dr. Deborah Rivas-Drake is the Stephanie J. Rowley Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan and President-Elect of SRCD. The overarching goal of her research is to illuminate promising practices that disrupt racism and xenophobia and help keep diverse young people on trajectories of positive contribution to their schools and communities. Together with the CASA Lab (casalab.org), she examines how school, peer, family, and community settings can support youth in navigating issues related to race, ethnicity, and immigration and how these experiences inform youths’ academic, socioemotional, and civic development. Her work has been recognized with the Mavis Hetherington Award for Excellence in Applied Developmental Science (APA), Social Policy Book Award (SRA), and Eleanor Maccoby Award in Developmental Psychology (APA) as well as APA and AERA Fellow status. In addition to her academic publications, she has collaboratively developed products for parents, educators, non-profit organizations, youth program developers, and industry.

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Dr. Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor is a Professor of Adolescent Development at Stanford University in the Graduate School of Education. In her work, she seeks to apply developmental science in a manner that reduces disparities and promotes social justice. Her research is guided by socio-cultural ecological theories of development, developmental prevention science, and risk and resilience frameworks. Umaña-Taylor developed the Identity Project, a school-based curriculum that engages adolescents in the developmental process of ethnic-racial identity formation. Her recent studies test the efficacy and effectiveness of the Identity Project; explore strategies to better prepare educators to engage in conversations about race, ethnicity, and identity with students; examine the role of peer relationships in adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity development; and explore the universality of ethnic-racial-cultural identity as a developmental competency among adolescents in the U.S., Europe, and the Global South to support building a more global developmental science. 

Completely unrelated but hoping you can help me with a question – I had registered for my hotel room at the Atlanta Marquis when SRCD sent out the notice. Yesterday I received a notice that my hotel room had been cancelled – then a few hours later, I received four automated emails from the Marquis indicating that they had a request for a reservation and that I would be notified if there was availability. I am thinking this is a problem with the hotel and this is happening to everyone – however, can you please confirm that, and let me know if I need to do anything to secure my room? Thank you for your help.

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Dr. Brenda L. Volling is currently the Lois Wladis Hoffman Collegiate Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the role of family relationships in facilitating young children’s social and emotional development, and is particularly interested in father-child relationships, children’s attachments to their fathers and men’s coparenting roles in the family. She has co-edited several special issues on fathers and father-child relationships for the journals Psychology of Men and Masculinities (Volling & Palkovitz, 2021) and Parenting (Volling & Bornstein, 2025), in addition to an SRCD Monograph with recommendations for advancing research on fathering for children’s development (Volling & Cabrera, 2019). She is also interested in the role of siblings and sibling relationships in early childhood, and how these relationships predict children’s social and emotional development. Together with colleagues, Laurie Kramer and Nina Howe, she recently completed the Handbook of the Psychology of Sibling Relationships which is due to be published in June 2026. She is the Principal Investigator of the Family Transitions Study, a longitudinal investigation of changes in the firstborn’s adjustment and family functioning after the birth of a second child, which has received funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Fetzer Foundation.  She was the recipient of an Independent Scientist Award (K02) from NICHD and received a Faculty Recognition Award for outstanding research, teaching and service at the University of Michigan.  She is also a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and a fellow of the American Psychological Association for Divisions 7 (Developmental Psychology), 43 (Couple and Family Psychology) and 51 (Society for the Psychology of Men and Masculinities). Dr. Volling received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Carolina Consortium on Human Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.