FPG Faculty Fellow Cathi Propper, PhD, an associate professor at the UNC School of Nursing, has been awarded a new NIH R01 grant of $2,656,378 for a project titled, “Early Education, School Readiness, and Early School Success Among Children in Poverty: Exploring the Role of Parasympathetic Function in the Preschool Classroom.”

Kylie Garber, PhD, is a research scientist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG). As part of our FPG profile series, we recently spoke with her to learn more about her work at the Institute. Find out what she had to say.

Utilizing her interdisciplinary experience in social science and epidemiology, Ping Chen specializes in conducting research focusing on social, environmental, behavioral, and biological linkages in developmental and life-course health trajectories. This interest led Chen, an advanced research scientist FPG, to collaborate with colleagues on “Polygenic risk, childhood abuse and gene x environment interactions with depression development from middle to late adulthood: A U.S. national life-course study,” which was published in June in Preventive Medicine.

While there has been extensive research on parenting risk and protective factors for the general population, knowledge of parenting specific to queer youth—those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, or other sexual minority identities—remains very limited. Recognizing this gap, two FPG Faculty Fellows joined with colleagues from Carolina and the University of Wisconsin at Madison to examine previous research. The findings, “Parenting and Queer Youth Mental Health and Substance Use: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis,” were published earlier this year in Adolescent Research Review.

The ECERS-3: Assessing Disparities and Challenges in Equity project, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed to review the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Third Edition (ECERS-3) using an equity lens. The project has released final recommendations for authors of the ECERS-4.

To kick off the upcoming development of state-wide resources on math, literacy and social emotional learning for North Carolina pre-K providers, leaders from FPG, in partnership with the NC DCDEE, co-hosted “Embracing Joy in pre-K Literacy, Math, and Socioemotional Learning NC pre-K Summit” in June.

The UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) recently wrapped up its fifth annual Summer Graduate Internship Program in Implementation Practice, a paid opportunity for masters' and doctoral students. The program, which is designed to create a challenging and meaningful professional experience, exposes interns to implementation practice and research across a variety of fields and practice settings.

Nathan Jorgensen, PhD, is a postdoctoral research associate for the Equity Research Action Coalition. He has extensive training in quantitative methodology and advanced statistical modeling. His research focuses on how cultural systems shape identity and social development across the lifespan. He is also interested in historical and socio-political perspectives on psychological theory and research.

Paula Grubbs, PhD, is a technical assistance specialist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG). While she spends a large amount of time working with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA), Grubbs also works on the Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge and the NC Data Governance projects.