Infant and Child Development

A person with glasses and brown hair smiles in front of a cream-colored building with a partial sign in Polish visible on the wall.

Abney, Drew

Associate Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2023 OIBR Rising Star Award Recipient
2020-22 GDP Participant, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | drew.abney@uga.edu

Research Interests include sensorimotor development, human interaction, emotion regulation, time series analysis, and language development

A man with short black hair wearing a dark collared shirt, facing forward against a plain white background.

Ahn, Daehwan

Assistant Professor, Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics
website | daehwan@uga.edu

Research Interests include:  Computational Methods, Education and Learning, Experimental Methods, Higher Education, Infant and Child Development, Mental Health, Mental Illness and Disorders, Organizations, STEM, Work and Occupations

Grace Bagwell-Adams

Bagwell-Adams, Grace

Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management
website | gbagwell@uga.edu

Research Interests:  food assistance policy, obesity policy, effect of health policy on vulnerable populations, program evaluation

A man in a dark blazer and white shirt smiles at the camera in front of a gray background.

Barger, Michael

Associate Professor, Educational Psychology
2023-2025 Grant Development Program Participant
website | michael.barger@uga.edu

Research Interests include motivation, STEM, developmental psychology, mindsets, and beliefs

Kristen Bub

Bub, Kristen

Professor, Educational Psychology
website | kristen.bub@uga.edu

Research Interests include social competence, self-regulation, executive function, early childhood, and research methods

Margaret Caughy

Caughy, Margaret

Georgia Athletic Association Professor, Family Health Disparities
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
websitemargaret.caughy@uga.edu

Research Interests include academic achievement, self-regulation, and minoritized populations

A woman with straight, light brown hair, wearing a blue and white patterned blouse, smiles outdoors with green foliage in the background.

Ehrlich, Katie

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | kehrlich@uga.edu

Research Interests include social determinants of health, inflammation, stress, and resilience

A woman with curly hair and glasses smiles at the camera. She is wearing a light scarf and dark top, standing in front of a blurred background with red foliage.

Frick, Janet

Associate Professor, Psychology
website | jfrick@uga.edu

Research Interests include:  Developmental psychology; Infancy; Visual attention; Joint attention

A woman with curly dark hair smiles at the camera. She is wearing a pink top and a light-colored sweater. The background is plain and softly lit.

Fusco, Rachel

Associate Professor, Social Work
website | rachel.fusco@uga.edu

Research Interests include substance use, child maltreatment, and domestic violence

A man with short red hair and a beard, wearing a light blue button-up shirt, smiles slightly in an outdoor setting with blurred greenery in the background.

Gibbs, Daniel

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
website | dangibbs@uga.edu

Research Interests include: Child well-being; Professional decision-making; Foster care; Data science; Social work and the law

A woman with straight blond hair and glasses smiles at the camera. She is wearing a green top with white dots and the background is gray.

Hamel, Erin

Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences & Special Education
website | erin.hamel@uga.edu

Research Interests include: Early childhood teaching; Workplace supports; Education quality

A woman with straight, light brown hair smiles at the camera. She is wearing a white top with a floral pattern and a necklace. The background is dark and out of focus.

Harrison, Ashley

Professor, Educational Psychology
website | ashley.harrison@uga.edu

Research Interests include atypical emotional and social attention in childhood psychopathology, information-processing framework to examine the differential developmental trajectory of social attention among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and identifying ways to more effectively treat attention impairments

A smiling woman with long, straight blonde hair and light skin is facing the camera against a neutral, softly blurred background.

Knight, Jessica

Associate Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
2021-23 GDP Participant, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | jessica.knight@uga.edu

Research Interests include child health, cardiovascular disease, chronic disease epidemiology, and birth defects

Kalsea Koss

Koss, Kalsea

Associate Professor, Human Development & Family Science
website | kalsea.koss@uga.edu

Research Interests include stress, adversity, puberty, developmental psychopathology, epigenetics, and resilience

Justin Lavner

Lavner, Justin

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2022 OIBR Rising Star Award Recipient
2015-17 GDP Participant
website | lavner@uga.edu

Research Interests include couples, families, prevention, health disparities and LGBTQ

Rebecca Lieberman-Betz

Lieberman-Betz, Rebecca

Professor, Communication Sciences & Special Education
website | rglb@uga.edu

Research Interests include special needs, parent responsibility, communication development, autism spectrum disorder, developmental disabilities, early childhood, and special education

Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett

Neuharth-Pritchett, Stacey

Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs, College of Education
Professor, Educational Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | sneuhart@uga.edu

Research Interests include young children, poverty, health, Head Start, and ACEs

A man with dark hair and glasses wearing a dark blazer and black shirt smiles while standing outside near a brick building.

Oshri, Assaf

Professor, Human Development & Family Science
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | oshri@uga.edu

Research Interests include early adversity and youth resilience

A woman with long black hair and a black top smiles at the camera in front of a dark blue background.

Ravindran, Niyantri

Assistant Professor, Human Development & Family Science
2023-2025 Grant Development Program Participant
website | niyantri.ravindran@uga.edu

Research Interests include: Parent-child interactions; Emotion socialization; Emotion regulation; Physiological responses to stress; Dynamic methods

A woman with straight brown hair and a black top smiles at the camera against a plain light background.

Sanders, Ashley

Associate Professor, Psychology
website | ashley.sanders@uga.edu

Research Interests: Bias, Discrimination, and Inequality, Cognition, Diversity, Environment and Ecosystems, Gender, Genetics and Epigenetics, Infant and Child Development, Infant and Maternal Health, Maltreatment and Trauma, Mental Health, Mental Illness and Disorders, Neuroscience, Psychophysiology, Youth, Adolescence, and Emerging Adulthood

Anne Shaffer

Shaffer, Anne

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | ashaffer@uga.edu

Research Interests include parenting, emotion regulation, measurement, and emotion socialization

A man with light brown hair, glasses, and a grey blazer smiles at the camera with green plants blurred in the background.

Tate, Allan

Associate Professor, Epidemiology & Biostatistics
website | allan.tate@uga.edu

Research Interests: Bias, Discrimination, and Inequality, Chronic Disease, Computational Methods, Diversity, Environment and Ecosystems, Exercise, Food & Nutrition, Immigration, Infant and Child Development, Infant and Maternal Health, Maltreatment and Trauma, Mental Health, Physical Health and Well-being, Prevention and Implementation Science, Risk Behaviors, Survey Methods, Youth, Adolescence, and Emerging Adulthood

A woman with straight, shoulder-length dark hair is smiling at the camera, wearing a white top and light blazer, with green foliage in the background.

Zhang, Liwei

Assistant Professor, Social Work
website | liwei.zhang@uga.edu

Research Interests include: Infant and Child Development, Maltreatment and Trauma, Mental Health, Violence and Injury