The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has named Noreen Yazejian, PhD, interim associate director for research. In this role, Yazejian will support research initiatives across the Institute, bringing together research teams and helping to launch new projects. Yazejian brings nearly 30 years of experience at FPG to her new role, having started as a graduate student and then working her way up through investigator, scientist, and principal investigator.

A distinguished researcher, Yazejian leads the national evaluation of the Educare Learning Network, a coast-to-coast consortium of state-of-the-art, full-day, year-round schools serving children from birth to 5 years who live in marginalized communities and have fewer opportunities for supportive educational experiences. In addition, she leads a project examining the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Third Edition (ECERS-3), examining the tool with an equity lens and analyzing existing data, to ensure quality, particularly as it relates to the race and ethnicity of children served.

Throughout her time at the Institute, she has worked with a variety of directors and associate directors and says that she is excited to incorporate into her interim role what she has learned from them. “We all stand on the shoulders of others, and I would not be here without the learnings, support, and mentoring I’ve received from others,” she notes. Yazejian’s projects will include a Community Connections planning group, which will focus on building strong teams at FPG and working to create projects that include FPG researchers and fellows as well as other campus partners. She says that her years of experience at FPG and the good relationships she has with colleagues at FPG and across campus will help with this work. She also looks forward to the problem solving aspect of her new role, helping her colleagues address research challenges.

Yazejian is excited to work with FPG interim director Brian Boyd, PhD, and support his vision and FPG Next initiative. The feeling is mutual. “In so many ways, Noreen is the embodiment of a career scientist at FPG,” says Boyd. “She is also a well-respected researcher and trusted colleague to many. I am so grateful that she decided to take on the role of interim associate director for research and I look forward to working with her to move FPG forward.”

“In so many ways, Noreen is the embodiment of a career scientist at FPG,” says Boyd. “She is also a well-respected researcher and trusted colleague to many. I am so grateful that she decided to take on the role of interim associate director for research and I look forward to working with her to move FPG forward.”

While FPG is historically a research institute, Yazejian notes that technical assistance, implementation science, and policy work are critical aspects of the Institute’s portfolio. She sees her role as supporting all of those areas. “Research, policy, implementation science, and technical assistance must inform, and be informed by, each other to change outcomes for children and families,” she says. “If you just conduct the research and it does not make it into practice, does not inform policy, the research will not change anything.”

Yazejian says that she loves FPG and that it is a great place to work. “Stepping into the associate director for research role is just another way I can help FPG grow and support its mission to transform the lives of children and families,” she says.