Mali Hosseinzadeh, B.S.
Graduate Research Assistant
mphossei@uncg.edu
Nutrition PhD Student
Faculty Advisor: Lenka Shriver
B.S., Marketing and Economics, UNC-Charlotte
Shouyra Negi, M.S.
Graduate Research Assistant
s_negi@uncg.edu
Human Development and Family Studies PhD Student
Faculty Advisors: Esther Leerkes and Kierra Sattler
B.S., Home Science, G.B. Pant University; Pantnagar, India
M.S., Human Development and Family Studies, CCS Haryana Agricultural University; Hisar, India
Work Experience: As a Master student, Shourya conducted a study on the effect of Emotional Intelligence and Family Environment on Sibling Relationships. From 2019-2020, Shourya worked as a Research Assistant under a UNICEF funded project on Positive Parenting to examine some of the major issues confronting parents in the rural, urban and tribal areas of Gujarat, India in order to develop modules and strategies to help educate parents to enhance their understanding of developmental needs of children and to promote optimal child development. From 2020-2021, Shourya worked as an Adjunct faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, MS University of Baroda, India.
Research Interests: Shourya wants to explore the influence of n traumatic experiences in mother’s life on their sensitivity and parenting practices. Shourya also wants to explore the intergenerational consequences of maternal adverse childhood experiences on the developmental outcomes of their children.
Agona Lutolli, M.A.
Graduate Research Assistant
a_lutolli@uncg.edu
Human Development and Family Studies PhD Student
Faculty Advisors: Esther Leerkes and Kierra Sattler
B.A., Lake Forest College
M.A., University of Chicago
Research Experience From 2017-2018, Agona worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Section of Hospital Medicine at the University of Chicago. At this position, she systematically collected data on high-risk hospitalized minority patients to produce knowledge that can improve the care they receive and ultimately ameliorate their outcomes. As a Master Student at the University of Chicago, Agona investigated the intergenerational effects of maternal childhood maltreatment on youth anxiety/depression, aggression and delinquency. Beyond her thesis, she also assisted with data collection for the Human-Animal Interaction program that examined whether attachment and attitudes towards pets would have psychosocial, emotional, and behavioral benefits.
Research Interests: Broadly, Agona is interested in Early Childhood Education and Parent- Child Relationships with a sociocultural perspective. More specifically, she is interested in understanding the factors that influence minority children’s socio-emotional and academic development at the individual, family and school level. Mainly focusing on factors at the family level (e.g., mental health of parents or parenting style). Finally, using this knowledge she wants to investigate the intergenerational consequences of early life adversity on the socio-emotional and academic development of minority children.
In her freetime, Agona enjoys going on hikes, exploring local coffee shops and trying local breweries.
Yu Chen, M.A.
Graduate Research Assistant
y_chen12@uncg.edu
Human Development and Family Studies PhD Student
Faculty Advisor: Esther Leerkes
B.S., Applied Psychology, Beijing Forestry University; Beijing, China
M.A., Mental Health Education, Beijing Normal University; Beijing, China
Research Experience: As a Master student, Yu investigated parental appreciation-related socialization processes and their relations with children’s development of appreciation (as an emotion) and distinguished its difference from gratitude (as a virtue). From 2021-2022, Yu worked as a Research Assistant and Research Coordinator for Dr. Nan Zhou’s Human Development and Family Studies Lab at Beijing Normal University. In this position, she analyzed quantitative data on the unidirectional and bidirectional relations between parental socialization for child appreciation and children’s appreciation. In addition, after fMRI ethics and security training, she also worked as an experimenter with experienced supervisors in the fMRI laboratory.
Research Interests: Broadly, Yu’s research interests center around children’s developmental outcomes (e.g., emotion). Yu is interested in the factors that influence children’s development and health outcomes at the individual and family level (e.g., child factors, parent factors, parent-child interactions).
Michele Kamau, B.Ed.
Graduate Research Assistant
mnkamau@uncg.edu
Human Development and Family Studies M.S./PhD Student
Faculty Advisors: Rachel Boit & Linda Hestenes
B.Ed. Early Childhood Education, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Research Experience: Before starting with iGROW, Michele was part of a community engaged project that supports newly arrived Congolese refugees and their families access early childhood education services. In this role she helped collect and analyze qualitative data. She also helped prepare poster presentations and manuscripts. Before coming to graduate school, Michele’s capstone project involved her collecting data on the effects of school closures during Covid-19 on kindergarten age children’s socio-emotional development. She carried out this project in Westlands, Nairobi.
Research Interests: Her research interests center on the heritage language acquisition for refugees and refugee children who are non-native English speakers as well as practices related to maintaining ethnolinguistic vitality within these communities.
Maha Issa, B.S.
Graduate Research Assistant
maissa@uncg.edu
Human Development and Family Studies MS-PhD Student
Faculty Advisor: Esther Leerkes
B.S., Child Development and Psychology, Meredith College
Research Interests: Very broadly, social/emotional development in infants and toddlers. More specifically, Maha is very curious about a wide variety of factors that interact with parent-child relationships, attachment, and parental sensitivity. Her interests are also shaped by my life experiences as a second-generation Palestinian immigrant and as someone who is visually impaired.
Previous iGrow Graduate Students
Savannah Sommers Girod, PhD
B.S., Psychology, Stevenson University
M.S., Human Development and Family Studies, UNCG
Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, UNCG
Tamika Watts, M.S.
B.S., Biology, Chemistry Minor, Johnson C. Smith University
M.S. Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Lauren Bailes, Ph.D.
B.S., Psychological Sciences, Western Kentucky University
M.S., Psychology, Western Kentucky University
Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Meg Lawless, Ph.D.
B.S., Health, Behavior and Society, University of Rochester
M.S. and Ph.D., Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Cia Elder, B.S.
B.S., Central Michigan University
Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro M.S./PhD Student
Kiki Leis, M.S
B.S., Psychology, Hampshire College
M.S., Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
PhD Student, Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Josi Gabaldon, M.S.
M.S., Exercise Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro