The UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute's (FPG's) Implementation Division welcomes three interns for its second cohort of the Implementation Division Summer Internship Program.

This internship program is a paid opportunity for masters' and doctoral students designed to create a challenging and meaningful professional experience that exposes them to implementation practice and research across a variety of fields and practice settings.

FPG’s Implementation Division consists of three workgroups—The Impact Center, the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), and the Trohanis Technical Assistance Projects.

Sandra J. Diehl, MPH, CHES, an implementation specialist at FPG, says the division is thrilled to offer its second cohort of interns a meaningful internship experience. Similar to last year, due to COVID-19, work will primarily be done in a virtual setting.

"We're excited to work with this talented group of graduate students who will be working on key issues in the field including systematically adapting methods and resources to reflect an inclusive and diverse perspective, intentionally engaging users in the development and testing of models, methods, and resources, and incorporating storytelling into our implementation support toolbox."

Interns working with the division this summer are:

Caroline Chandler

Caroline Chandler, MPH will be working on “Usability Testing of the Integration Consultant Role” of the NC Integrated Care for Kids (NC InCK) with Oscar Fleming, MSPH, DrPH, from NIRN. Collaborators on the project include Laura Louison, MSW, MSPH, Nakenge Robertson, MBA (NIRN); Chaney Stokes, Nancy Madenyika, LCSW, Sarah Allin, MPP, Jamila Freeman, and Barbara Young (NC InCK Consultant Implementation Team), and the NC InCK Leadership Team.

Caroline is a PhD Candidate in maternal and child health at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health with a minor in social work and a Graduate Certificate in participatory research. She graduated from Gillings with her MPH in 2017. Caroline's work is centered on early childhood adversities as risk factors and service systems that support child health and development.

Alana Gilbert

Alana Gilbert will be working on the development of an equity assessment of ICTP tools and resources with Sherra Lawrence, MA and Capri McDonald, MA. Collaborators are Ariel Everett, Jessica Reed, MS, and Rebecca Roppolo, MPH, all from The Impact Center at FPG.

Alana is earning her MPH in health behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She graduated from UNC in 2019 with a Bachelor's in public policy and global studies and a minor in anthropology. Alana is passionate about improving health equity through community-informed and evidence-based practices, with a special interest in perinatal and child health.

Meera Kumanan

Meera Kumanan will be working on the development of media products to drive Triple P implementation best practices. Meera will be working with Sandra J. Diehl, MPH, CHES, Capri McDonald, MA, Devon Minch, PhD, and Will Aldridge, PhD, as well as an array of external partners.

Meera is earning her MPH in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and is interested in using implementation science and science dissemination to promote health equity. She graduated in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Boston University.