Did you know that the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) comprises a dedicated group of more than 200 individuals―researchers, staff, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, and faculty fellows― who are all united in their commitment to improving the lives of children through innovative research, practice, and policy?

FPG faculty fellows are UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members who play a vital role in our work. They have a primary appointment in an academic or health affairs department, while also actively and substantially participating in research, evaluation, implementation, or technical assistance projects at FPG. As valued members of the FPG community, they foster innovative and interdisciplinary work and enhance our collaborations and impact across campus and beyond.

In our Faculty Fellow Profile series, we showcase some of these remarkable individuals and their outstanding contributions at the University and in collaboration with FPG.

Below is a roundup of some of our more recent profiles.  

Faculty Fellow Profile: Jessica Steinbrenner
Utilizing her background as a speech-language pathologist, Jessica Steinbrenner centers her research on children with autism, with a focus on school-based interventions and individuals on the spectrum with significant communication needs. Steinbrenner, an associate professor in the Department of Health Sciences of the UNC School of Medicine, is also a faculty fellow at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, a role she began in 2021.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Sean Sylvia
Trained as a development economist, Sean Sylvia, associate professor of health economics at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, focuses his work on using economic principles and behavioral psychology to improve the implementation of public health programs and health care delivery. Sylvia is also a faculty fellow at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Dara Chan
FPG Faculty Fellow Dara Chan focuses her research on improving community participation, integration, and inclusion for autistic adults and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Chan, who is an assistant professor in the Division of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling in UNC’s Department of Health Sciences, often collaborates with FPG colleagues.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Gabriel Dichter
Using novel brain imaging approaches, clinical psychologist Gabriel Dichter seeks to understand how treatments for autism and mood disorders work. His research is synergistic with developmental disabilities explorations happening at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), which led to Dichter becoming an FPG faculty fellow last year.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Kimberly Jenkins
A chance meeting at a Duke benefit concert attended by a teenage Kimberly Jenkins, guided her toward a career in speech language pathology. Now a faculty fellow at FPG and an assistant professor in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the UNC School of Medicine, Jenkins focuses her research on language acquisition and development in dual language learners, particularly Spanish and English, from theoretical and applied perspectives.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Desiree Murray
After taking her first psychology class in high school, Desiree Murray, knew that a career as a psychologist was in her future. Before becoming a faculty fellow at FPG and senior research scientist at the UNC Center of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Murray served as the associate director for research at FPG. Prior to that time, she spent nearly two decades in the Department of Psychiatry at Duke, with particular expertise in ADHD.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Shauna Cooper
Developmental psychologist Shauna Cooper, a professor in UNC’s Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, is devoted to promoting well-being among young people and to facilitating racial equity. She serves as a faculty fellow at FPG and the director of UNC’s Strengths, Assets, and Resilience (StAR) Lab, which uses culturally relevant conceptual and theoretical frameworks to study positive development among African American adolescents and youth.

Faculty Fellow Profile: Kara Hume
When FPG Faculty Fellow Kara Hume fulfilled the community service requirement at her Phoenix high school by volunteering with a family who had a 7-year-old son with autism, she never imagined it would steer the course for her professional life. But the strong connection she built with the child and family inspired her.