Research Center for Resilience and Early Childhood
Development
Center Staff Bios
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Dr. Geraldine Oades-Sese |
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Project Coordinator:Jennifer Foster, MSEd., NCSP is a first year advanced standing doctoral School Psychology student at GSAPP. She received a BA degree in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine and a MS in Education and Advanced Degree in School Psychology from Brooklyn College. Jennifer is a certified school psychologist in New Jersey and New York, as well as nationally. She is currently working in the Perth Amboy Public School District where she is primarily responsible for developing and implementing behavioral interventions for middle school students. In addition, Jennifer is an Adjunct Lecturer in the School Psychology Graduate Program at Brooklyn College and has spent several years working directly with children with autism and their families. Research Interests: Her research and professional interests include fostering resilience among urban youth, improving school-based mental health services, understanding family dynamics of children with disabilities, and identifying barriers to family-school-community collaboration. Email:jfoster802@yahoo.com |
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Project Coordinator: Meredith Cregg-Wedmore, MA, is a second year doctoral School Psychology student at GSAPP. She earned her B.A. in Psychology, with minors in Mathematics and Gender Studies and her M.A. in Counseling from The College of New Jersey. Meredith has held positions in several educational settings including Head Start and a nonprofit organization for children with multiple disabilities. She is currently completing a practicum in Elizabeth Public Schools at the preschool and elementary levels. Research Interests: Her research interests include effective implementation of school- and home- based interventions to support the social, emotional and academic development of young children, urban education, and the role of the school psychologist in teacher training and professional development. Email: creggm@aol.com |
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Field Project Coordinator: Jacquelyn Doran-Cunningham, MSEd, NCSP, is a 7th Year PhD Candidate in School Psychology at Fordham University. Her clinical training experiences include working at an agency for infant and preschool mental health, a preschool for developmental disabilities, a hospital-based school, and a traditional school district. She holds a master's degree is in Preschool Psychology and is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist. Prior to attending graduate school, she was an elementary school teacher. Research Interests: Her research interests are focused primarily on early childhood and adolescence, but vary in topic from aggression to resilience. Jacquelyn’s program of research is unified by her interest in how behaviors, relationships, and social contexts impact positive and negative trajectories during early childhood and adolescence. More specifically, her research program addresses the nature of social competence and aggression during these developmental periods. Email: jad.cunningham@gmail.com |
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Research Assistant: Vanessa Ramirez, is a second year doctoral Clinical Psychology student at GSAPP. For the last year and a half she has been working with at-risk, ethnic minority middle-school girls. She is part of the Rutgers/Somerset Project in Franklin Township and the Rutgers Foster Care Counseling Project. She provides individual and family therapy for children in the foster care system in central New Jersey. Vanessa is also a research assistant for the Center of Alcohol Studies that develops and implements an alcohol prevention program in high schools. The program focuses on students transitioning into high school and provides peer-lead psychoeducational/process groups along with connecting high-risk students with teacher mentors. Prior to entering GSAPP, she was the lab director for the DAISI Study at the University of Florida for 3 years. This research study explored the role of self-concept in daily stress experiences of clinical and non-clinical populations. Research Interests: Her research and professional interests center on ethnic minority issues, the development of ethnic identity, and the development of prevention and intervention programs for at-risk ethnic minority children and families. Email: vramirez@eden.rutgers.edu |
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Research Assistant: David S. Goldstein, MAEd, NCSP,is a first year advanced standing doctoral student in the School Psychology program at GSAPP. He is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist working in the Franklin Township public school district and has worked as a rehabilitation specialist for traumatic brain injured individuals for the past seven years. Research Interests: His research and professional interests include cognitive/behavioral interventions in the schools, urban community psychology, working with impoverished children, culturally marginalized groups, and intervention/program development and implementation in school systems. Email: dgoldstein@franklinboe.org |
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Research Assistant: Patricia Gil, is a first year PD student in the School Psychology Program at the Graduate School of Education, Fordham University. She was a research assistant for a dissertation study on applied behavior analysis in schools. Research Interests: Her research interest centers on resilience among culturally and linguistically diverse children and adolescents. Email: pagil@fordham.edu |
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Research Assistant:Nadia Lemp, M.A., is a first year doctoral Clinical Psychology student at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. She received her B. A. in International Development Studies from McGill University and her M.A. in Psychology from New York University. Prior to coming to GSAPP, Nadia was an Assistant Research Scientist at the NYU Child Study Center. There, she worked on an NIH-funded study evaluating the efficacy of a psycho-educational intervention for middle school students with asthma, in which she was responsible delivering a group-based health education curriculum to students and their caregivers in schools, as well as recruitment, retention and data collection. Nadia has experience co-leading cognitive-behavioral and supportive treatments for socially anxious adolescents in high schools. She has also worked with toddlers and their caregivers in psycho-educational parenting groups. Nadia currently works as a therapist for the Rutgers University Foster Care Counseling Project, where she provides therapy for children in the foster care system in central New Jersey. Research Interests: Nadia's research and professional interests include the role of culture in the socio-emotional development of children and adolescents, in addition to acculturation among immigrants and ethnic minority groups. Email: nlemp@eden.rutgers.edu |
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Bilingual Evaluator: Ayanna Boyd, a native of Brooklyn, NY, is a first year doctoral School Psychology student at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers. She currently resides in Plainfield, NJ. Ayanna received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Her past experience with children include a position as a camp counselor for Sharp Visions, Inc. in Pittsburgh, PA serving children ages 6-18 years old who have mental and physical disabilities. In addition, Ayanna worked as a substitute teacher in the Plainfield Public School district. She is currently working in the Piscataway School district at Dwight Eisenhower Elementary School for her practicum experience. Email: ayanna.s.boyd@gmail.com |
Bilingual Evaluator: Terri Lipkin, PsyM, EdM, is an advanced Clinical Psychology student at GSAPP. Her clinical training through GSAPP has included work in home-based, school-based, and traditional psychological services, both in English and Spanish. She has trained at the Rutgers/Somerset Counseling Project, The CARRI program at UMDNJ-UBHC Piscataway, The Community Teen Center in Highland Park, and the Psychological Clinic at GSAPP. Prior to attending GSAPP, she earned her masters degree in psychological counseling and worked as a bilingual school counselor at Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, NY for four years. Research Interests: Her research and professional interests include culturally appropriate therapy and assessment for diverse populations, diversity training, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of preventive intervention programs. |
