Family Research Scholars Program
FAMILY RESEARCH SCHOLARS 2007-2008
Daniel Anderson, Professor of Psychology
545-2069, anderson@psych.umass.edu
Daniel Anderson studies children and television including children's interactions during TV viewing and the impact on cognitive development and education. His current research concerns television and very young children, brain activation during media use, and television viewing and children's diet. As a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Anderson will be developing a proposal to NIH to research the use and impact of television and videos on infants and toddlers. This work will build upon and extend to home observations the program of research that he has begun in a laboratory context. Dr. Anderson has previously been a CRF fellow and had developed a successful research proposal to NSF as part of the program.
Nancy Folbre, Professor of Economics
545-3283, folbre@econs.umass.edu
Nancy Folbre focuses on the interface between feminist theory and political economy, with a particular interest in caring labor and other forms of non-market work. She has received a five-year fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation and also served as co-chair of the MacArthur Research Network on the Family and the Economy. She works with the Center for Popular Economics and is an Associate Editor of the journal Feminist Economics. Dr. Folbre has been actively engaged in the creation and development of the Center for Research on Families as a steering committee member. As a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Folbre plans to pursue a large interdisciplinary research project to investigate ways of measuring and improving the quality of coproduced care services. The project would potentially involve several co-principal investigators and/or participants from other departments and seek support for doctoral and post-doctoral students from the National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT).
Marsha Kline Pruett, Maconda Brown O'Connor Professor, Smith College School for Social Work
585-7997, Mpruett@email.smith.edu
Marsha Kline Pruett's research revolves around family issues specific to family and juvenile law. The unifying theme across the research is the promotion of healthy family development during life transitions, particularly those transitions related to adverse events or circumstances. In 2006, she joined Smith's School for Social Work as the Maconda Brown O'Connor Professor. Previously, Dr. Kline Pruett was Associate Professor in the Law and Psychiatry Division at the Yale University School of Medicine and the Yale Child Study Center. As a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Kline Pruett 's project will focus on the effects of parental moves and relocation on the well-being of parents and children after divorce. She will pursue funding from both foundation and federal sources in collaboration with the Center for Research on Families at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Kline Pruett is the first Family Research Scholar to to be awarded this honor from another educational institution.
Dean E. Robinson,, Associate Professor of Political Science
545-0406, deanr@polsci.umass.edu
Dean Robinson examines the effects of political and public policy trends on racial health disparities in the United States. His work focuses on patterns and policies that reinforce inequality of social welfare provision and socioeconomic status. In 2001, Dr. Robinson was awarded a two year fellowship as a W.K. Kellogg Scholar in Health Disparities at Harvard University's School of Public Health to pursue his research. As a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Robinson will seek funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to design a study that will gauge the potential impact of state politics and policy on overall infant mortality, and black-white disparities. The working hypothesis is that features of the local political landscape, like state culture or ideology, party control of state government and various demographic characteristics affect state public policies which directly and indirectly affect infant mortality rates.
Lisa Wexler, Assistant Professor, Community Health Education,
School of Public Health and Health Sciences
545-2248, lwexler@schoolph.umass.edu
Lisa Wexler's research considers how health and disease are understood and enacted within a social and cultural context. Considering how different people identify, understand and address their "problems" can enable professionals to advocate for meaningful change as well as develop effective intervention projects. Dr. Wexler is particularly interested in learning how situated discourses, attitudes and beliefs, of both professionals and the people they serve, influence minority wellbeing. Her work has focused on suicide and suicide prevention in an Alaskan Inupiaq community. Through the Family Research Scholars Program, Dr. Wexler will develop a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposal for submission to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs (OPP). Dr. Wexler is the first faculty member from the School of Public Health and Health Sciences to be awarded a Family Research Scholarship.
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