YCSC Connections
Featuring updates, news you can use, events, and more from the Yale Child Study Center.
Chair's Message
As we continue our focus on building a strong sense of community within our department, an incredible amount of hard work has been underway here at the Center, and I want to share my gratitude for these efforts and honor several accomplishments, which are highlighted below.
I have also personally enjoyed gathering both virtually and in person with so many in our community for a variety of recent events, including a very successful “in-house open house” earlier this month. Some photos from this event are linked to from the article below. In addition to our November 8th annual meeting of the associates – which I do hope many of you will join virtually – we also have a special Grand Rounds series focused on leadership beginning at the end of this month, and two book signing events coming up in November.
Indeed, we have much to be proud of within our community and beyond. At the same time, being together helps us bear the heaviness that too often surrounds us. Thank you, as ever, for joining in this work, supporting our missions, and caring for each other.
Linda Mayes, MD
Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology; Chair
Yale Child Study Center
Departmental News & Updates
Dr. James Comer: On Life and Leadership
In the latest edition of the Yale Child Study Center “On Leadership” blog post and newsletter column, YCSC Assistant Professor Daryn David, PhD shares excerpts from an interview with Maurice Falk Professor James Comer, MD, MPH, in part one of a two-part series.
13 Oct 2023Welcoming new YCSC community members: October 2023
The Yale Child Study Center welcomes new community members on an on-going basis. All new faculty, staff, and trainees are invited to share their bios upon joining the YCSC, and the latest submission is from Dan McGlade, in the YCSC Before and After Baby Lab.
12 Oct 2023Yale Child Study Center Community Celebrates Professional Progression
Several members of the Yale Child Study Center community recently came together in person to celebrate and recognize recent academic and professional progression among faculty and staff. Department Chair Linda Mayes (pictured) provided opening remarks and served cake to attendees.
11 Oct 2023Arkansas Lifespan Research Conference Reveals Opportunities
YCSC Research Scientist Amanda Dettmer delivered a keynote lecture at the inaugural Advancing Arkansas Lifespan Research Conference in September.
Source: UAMS Translational Research Institute News10 Oct 2023Aneni and Lowell Selected as 2023 Viola B. Bernard Prize Winners
Yale Child Study Center Assistant Professor Uche Aneni and Associate Research Scientist Amanda Lowell have been selected as awardees of the 2023 Viola W. Bernard Prize in Social Innovation in Mental Health Care Delivery.
5 Oct 2023Yale Child Study Center Staff Spotlight October 2023
In the latest edition of a spotlight series launched in February, meet Yale Child Study Center Accountant Michele Badiali, who has been in her current role for three and a half years.
4 Oct 2023Over 150 Attend Yale Child Study Center In-house Open House
Approximately 165 members of the Yale Child Study Center community came together in September to celebrate and recognize the diversity and broad expertise across the varied missions of the department. Attendees learned about and explored over 40 individual clinical, community, policy, research -- and entered to win several gift baskets that were raffled off as part of the event.
3 Oct 2023Leckman to receive Human Values Award
Yale Child Study Center faculty member James Leckman, MD, PhD has been selected to receive the Human Values Award through the World Culture Festival Global Leadership Forum to honor his work with the Early Childhood Peace Consortium.
28 Sep 2023Investigators Launch Study Aimed at Accelerating Understanding of Bipolar Disorder
A multidisciplinary team of researchers based at Yale will launch a series of studies aimed at accelerating understanding of bipolar disorder and generating new and more effective treatments. Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry, and in the Child Study Center and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, will lead the research team.
19 Sep 2023
Upcoming Events
Everyone Pamela Sutton-WallaceExploring and Enhancing Leadership in the Academy
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds "On Leadership" Series Kick-off
This virtual session will be the first in a new quarterly leadership-focused lecture series, Exploring and Enhancing Leadership in the Academy, coordinated by YCSC Assistant Professor Daryn H. David, PhD in collaboration with YCSC Chair Linda Mayes, MD and the department's Grand Rounds committee.
The inaugural speaker will be Pamela Sutton-Wallace, MPH, who serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Yale-New Haven Health System. Additional details will be shared when available.
The new series will provide an open forum with leaders at the Yale School of Medicine and beyond who are committed to principles of collaboration and service. These talks will be further promoted throughout the YCSC, at 230 South Frontage Road and 350 George Street, through leadership-themed posters designed by Skyler Rapacioli, an undergraduate graphic design student.
Learning objectives for this new series are to:
- Introduce foundational principles of service leadership, generativity, and coaching for effectiveness within the academy and health care
- Highlight the service-oriented practices of prominent leaders within YSM, the Yale-New Haven Health System, Yale Medicine, and external institutions
- Invite audience members to reflect on their own leadership practices, with an eye toward how service leadership principles could enhance their efforts
Everyone Linda Mayes, MD - Amanda Calhoun, MD/MPH - Katarzyna Chawarska, PhD - Carrie Epstein, LCSW - Thomas Fernandez, MD - Alan H. Gerber, PhD - Eli Lebowitz, PhD - Carla E Marin, PhD - James McPartland, PhD - Amy Joy Myers, MSW, LCSW - Emily Olfson, MD/PhD - Victoria Stob, LCSW, MSW - Maggie Stoeckel, PhD - Tara Thompson-Felix, MD - Flora Vaccarino, MD - Areti Vassilopoulos, PhDGrowing a Pipeline to Improve the Lives of Children and Families Through Innovative Research, Service, and Training
Yale Child Study Center Annual Associates Meeting
The 2023 Annual Meeting of the YCSC Associates centered around the theme of Growing a Pipeline to Improve the Lives of Children and Families Through Innovative Research, Service, and Training, with four panel presentations and optional breakout sessions with the speakers. The meeting recording is available to review below.
Join YCSC faculty and trainees virtually to learn about some of the work within the department that has been advanced through the generosity of gifts – whether financial or that of mentorship, connection, training or professional development opportunities, etc. – through personal stories shared by some of our exceptional faculty, staff, and trainees. A meeting agenda is included below along with panel details.
Interested participants are asked to RSVP via the registration link by November 3, 2023 to indicate interest in attending the live event via Zoom and receiving the recording link. An invitation to sign up for breakout sessions will be sent to registrants leading up to the event.
Meeting Agenda
2:00-2:15 – Welcome & Introductions: Dr. Linda Mayes, YCSC Chair
2:15-3:15 – Panel Presentations with Q&A
3:15-3:30 – Break
3:30-4:30 – Panel Presentations with Q&A
4:30-4:40 – Wrap-up & Intro to Breakout Sessions
4:40-5:00 – Breakout Sessions with Each Panel
Panelists
Panel 1 (2:15-2:45)
The first panelists of the afternoon will tell stories with interweaving themes around the interface of clinical work with research, team-based approaches, working with families facing stigma and barriers to accessing care, and ensuring access for all.
- Areti Vassilopoulos, PhD; Assistant Professor & Pediatric Health Psychologist; Yale Site Director for the Comfort Ability Program
- Carrie Epstein, LCSW-R; Assistant Clinical Professor, Co-Director, Yale Center for Traumatic Stress and Recovery
- Carla E. Marin, PhD; Assistant Professor & Licensed Psychologist; Yale Child Study Center Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program
- Amanda Calhoun, MD, MPH; Chief Resident, Child Psychiatry, Albert J. Solnit Integrated Program
Panel 2 (2:45-3:15)
The speakers on the second panel will share their stories around launching new research and innovation, including clinical developments.
- Kasia Chawarska, PhD; Emily Fraser Beede Professor, Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Statistics and Data Science, Director, Toddlers Developmental Disabilities Clinic, Director, Social and Affective Neuroscience of Autism Program
- Thomas Fernandez, MD; Associate Professor; Vice Chair for Research; Co-Director of the Tic and OCD Program
- Alan Gerber, PhD; T32 Postdoctoral Fellow, McPartland Lab, Developmental Disabilities Clinic
Panel 3 (3:30-4:00)
The speakers on the third panel will share their stories with interweaving themes around multi-generational work with complex conditions and within complex systems, as well as intergenerational mental health through an interdisciplinary lens.
- Amy Myers, LCSW, Assistant Clinical Professor, Senior Consultant Family-Based Recovery Model Development and Operations
- Victoria Stob, LCSW, Assistant Clinical Professor, Co-Director of IICAPS Model Development and Operations
- Maggie Stoeckel, PhD; Assistant Professor; Associate Director, Pediatric Psychology Program; Director, GI Psychology Service
- Tara Thompson-Felix, MD; Clinical Fellow
Panel 4 (4:00-4:30)
The final panelists will share their stories with interweaving themes around heterogeneity and a move away from "one fits all" perspectives, illustrating that, in fact, one size doesn't fit all. Hear about customizing treatment and patient care through translational examples and personal stories, as well as ground-breaking work illustrated through patient stories.
- Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor; Director, Program in Neurodevelopment and Regeneration; Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology
- James McPartland, PhD, Harris Professor; Director, Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic, McPartland Lab, Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health
- Eli Lebowitz, PhD, Associate Professor; Co-Director, Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program
- Emily Olfson, MD PhD, Assistant Professor
This annual meeting engages participants in presentations focused on the multi-faceted missions of the Yale Child Study Center. These sessions, historically provided in-person, shifted to a virtual format in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, a virtual poster session, supplemental videos, and recordings of the live sessions have been made available on-line.
Everyone Book Signing and Reception with Dr. Carla Smith Stover
Fathers and Violence: A Program to Change Behavior, Improve Parenting and Heal Relationships
Join Carla Smith Stover, PhD for a book signing and reception in celebration of her recently released book "Fathers and Violence: A Program to Change Behavior, Improve Parenting and Heal Relationships."
Everyone Book Signing Reception with Dr. Arietta Slade & Co-authors
Enhancing Attachment and Reflective Parenting in Clinical Practice: A Minding the Baby Approach
Join Arietta Slade, PhD and co-authors Lois S. Sadler, PhD, RN, FAAN, Tanika Eaves, PhD, LCSW,
and Denise L. Webb, MSN, APRN, PNP for a book signing and reception in celebration of their recently released book "Enhancing Attachment and Reflective Parenting in Clinical Practice: A Minding the Baby Approach."
News You Can Use
Educational Videogame Intervention Encourages Teens to Get Tested for HIV
Teenagers made up an estimated 20 percent of new cases of HIV infection in the United States in 2020. The actual percentage, however, is likely to be higher because it is known that adolescents are the least likely of any age group to be aware of their HIV status and may unknowingly transmit the virus to others. Only 9 percent of high school students in the United States report ever being tested for HIV.
10 Oct 2023How to Break Through When Your Teen Tunes You Out
YCSC Associate Professor Dylan Gee was interviewed in this article on the possibility of meaningful conversations with teens, and what approaches may work better than others.
Source: The New York Times6 Oct 2023Scientists discover how dozens of genes may contribute to autism
Stanford University researchers have discovered several dozen genes that interfere with crucial steps in the brain development process and may lead to autism. Quotes James McPartland of Yale Child Study Center.
Source: Washington Post5 Oct 2023Opinion: Shifting the narrative of dyslexia
YCSC faculty member Ben Powers takes a strengths-based approach to addressing dyslexia in this opinion piece.
Source: CT Post28 Sep 2023Opinion: The Stressful College Admissions Process in a Post-Pandemic World
In this opinion piece, YCSC Associate Research Scientist Robin Stern and colleagues address some of the stresses teens face when applying for college and what parents can do to help.
Source: The Messenger25 Sep 2023Teenage Brain Development Study Forecasts Drinking Behavior by Sex
Researchers sorted through a massive MRI dataset of teenage brains to see if they could predict drinking behavior in adolescents by looking at how two systems rewire during development. The study revealed that the way inhibitory and reward pathways develop can help forecast how likely those teens are to drink heavily in the years to come.
18 Sep 2023
Upcoming Grand Rounds
Stigma in the Mirror
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Javeed Sukhera, MD, PhD
Exploring and Enhancing Leadership in the Academy
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds "On Leadership" Series Kick-off
Speaker: Pamela Sutton-Wallace
Postvention and Healing After a Patient Suicide
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Christine Yu Moutier, MD
Control and Controllability – "Examining Two Candidate Transdiagnostic Resilience Mechanisms"
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Nikolaus Steinbeis, PhD
A Matter of Life and Death: Responding to Increasing Rates of Suicidality in Asian, Black and Latine Youth
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speakers: Amanda Calhoun, MD/MPH, Eunice Yuen, MD, PhD, Anamaria Orozco
In the Media
Voices of Change
YCSC Assistant Professor Chris Cipriano has been honored as a change-maker in education by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), and she reflects on her work and its impact in an interview excerpt published on the CZI blog.
Source: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Blog11 Oct 2023To Help Support Their Mental Health, Students Want Schools To Make These Changes
YCSC Professor Dorothy Stubbe is quoted in this article on the importance of addressing mental health as part of a social emotional curriculum in schools.
Source: Teen Vogue10 Oct 2023Physical and mental health toll on people trapped in war zones as Israel conflict continues
YCSC Professor Steven Marans is quoted in this article addressing the increased risk for anxiety and depression for residents of war zones.
Source: ABC News10 Oct 2023Kate Middleton and Prince William Step Out for World Mental Health Day
YCSC Professor and YCEI Director Marc Brackett joined the Prince and Princess of Wales along with other mental health experts to bring young people together to talk about well-being on World Mental Health Day 2023.
Source: People10 Oct 2023Worker training program highlighted at Brownfields Conference
YCSC Senior Research Scientist Suzi Ruhl is quoted in this article on a roundtable at the National Brownfields Training Conference of 2023, co-convened by YSCS/Elevate and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
Source: NIEHS Environmental Factor2 Oct 2023Looking at eye tracking’s potential for clinical trials
YCSC Professor Jamie McPartland was quoted heavily in this article addressing two new studies describing an electronic tool that uses eye tracking to aid autism diagnosis.
Source: Spectrum News28 Sep 2023'America's Got Talent' dancer brings shadow performance to Darien Arts Center
YCSC Professor Nancy Close is quoted from a 2021 blog post about the development of a stage production, "Woof Woof the Shadow Pup" that grew out of a bedtime routine with her children and her husband Gene, who used his hand to make shadow puppets on the ceiling. A shadow puppet of a dog, named Woof Woof, put the children at ease and they openly talked to it about their day.
Source: The Darien Times22 Sep 2023SMA and mental health
YCSC Assistant Professor Areti Vassilopoulos was interviewed in this article on SMA, a genetic, progressive disease that causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body.
Source: SMA News Today20 Sep 2023One More (Huge) Reason Not To Give Your Baby Screen Time
YCSC Associate Research Scientist David Lewkowicz is quoted in this article on the risks of screen time for very young children.
Source: Fatherly19 Sep 2023