Child & Family Research Network

Scholars improving the lives of children and families through collaborative and interdisciplinary inquiry

Goals of the Network

Fostering Community

We provide scholars a home to learn about each other’s work, support one another in scholarly endeavors, and feel a sense of connection with other faculty on campus across departments and units through scholarly gatherings and mentorships

Fostering Community

Building Collaboration

Our research teams bring expertise and methodologies from many disciplines together for a common purpose. These interdisciplinary collaborations allow us to ask innovative questions for the benefit of youth, families, and communities.

Building Collaboration

Investing in Faculty

We support the development of faculty so faculty can continue to grow their research and scholarship through fellowships, grants, workshops, and programs.

Investing in Faculty

Centering Equity

We work to expand how science can be leveraged to restore justice to communities that have been ignored and devalued in academic inquiry and pursuits. Members are encouraged to consider how their science addresses inequities that the youth in our communities face. We are building research teams with expertise in racial, cultural, and social processes to ensure that research addresses the needs of all communities. We support scholars whose efforts have been traditionally marginalized in the academy.

Centering Equity

Our Experts in the News

A Growing Effort

An ambitious child obesity study following kids from womb to toddlerhood expands into the preschool years, with a new $3M NIH grant. “Once a child becomes overweight or obese, it’s very difficult to reverse that trajectory,” says Jefferson-Pilot Excellence Professor Esther Leerkes. “There’s more attention now on what you can do early in life to prevent weight problems.”

Illuminating Strengths

Dr. Gabriela Livas Stein received UNCG’s 2021 Junior Research Excellence Award for her scholarship on the impacts of Latinx cultural values, cultural stressors, and access to mental health care.
Recognized as a leader in the Latinx child development field, the professor of psychology has published over 70 peer reviewed articles in top journals such as Developmental Psychology and the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. She has received $5.5 million in funding and currently co-leads an NIH R01 grant.

NUrturing Stem’s Next Generation

…In Dr. Jasmine DeJesus’ child development lab, Draelos Scholars are helping communicate research findings to a broader audience and working with children and families at places such as the Greensboro…

Speaking Science

…To develop Bilingualtek, Méndez brought together a multi-institution team that includes science education researchers from East Carolina University and NC State University, as well as UNCG early childhood teacher training expert Dr. Karen La Paro.…

The Tell-Tale Heart

UNCG’s Dr. Laurie Wideman is adamant: When it comes to CVD, it matters what parents are doing with their children, and it starts younger than they may expect. 
The Safrit-Ennis Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology is part of a team that is looking at how self-regulation – our ability to manage our emotions and behaviors appropriately – in childhood impacts cardiometabolic risk development in adolescents. 

When Trauma Goes to School

Mental health issues are on the rise among all ages. One study in the Journal of Children and Adolescent Counseling, by UNCG’s Dr. Carrie Wachter Morris and Dr. Kelly Wester, found 13% of high school students were at serious risk for suicide.

Good Counsel

Burlington Industries Excellence Professor L. DiAnne Borders is our 2019 Senior Research Excellence Award winner. She is a leading figure in the field of counselor education, both nationally and internationally – in fact, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and 20 books and chapters, Dr. Borders is Google Scholar’s second most-cited researcher in the area of counseling and supervision.

So You Want to be a Scientist

Senior kinesiology major Lauren Dorn began her first foray into research as a technician for a High Point University neuroscience professor, studying neuroglial cells and binge drinking.
In 2017 she was selected to join UNCG’s first MARC cohort and began conducting research with Safrit-Ennis Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology Laurie Wideman. They are studying psychosocial factors in children’s lives that impact health and psychological wellness over time.