Lorraine Cordeiro
Director, Center for Research on Families
Professor, Department of Nutrition, SPHHS
Family Research Scholar, 2010-11
Dr. Cordeiro studies the associations between food security, high-risk health behaviors, and nutritional outcomes in multiple social and cultural contexts. Her research applies principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), leveraging the insights of communities and helping to build their research capital.
Kirby Deater-Deckard
Co-Director, Family Research Scholars
kdeaterdeck@umass.eduProfessor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Kirby Deater-Deckard is a developmental psychologist who studies child and adolescent cognitive and social-emotional development, and the role of parenting and peer environments on developmental outcomes. He is the director of the Healthy Development Initiative (HDI) based at the UMass Center Springfield. HDI is a group of UMass scientists and students who discover and share new knowledge about human development across the lifespan in collaboration with community partners. HDI strives to understand and promote the psychological and physical health and well-being of children, adolescents, adults and seniors in our communities.
Holly Laws
Director, CRF Methodology Program
Lecturer, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Dr. Laws joined the CRF Methodology Program as Co-Director in Fall 2017. Formerly an Associate Research Scientist in Yale University's Psychiatry Department, Dr. Laws also serves as a research psychologist in the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
Bi-sek Hsiao
Student Award 2020-21
Research Fellow
Bi-sek Hsiao is a PhD candidate in Nutrition in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences. Under Dr. Lindiwe Sibeko, Bi-sek’s dissertation research examines the ways that breastfeeding interacts with stress from multiple sources (e.g. neighborhood deprivation, discrimination, interpersonal violence, food insecurity, pregnancy stress) and the potential for breastfeeding to improve health outcomes for African American families.
Gabrielle Hill
Events, Communications and Office Manager
Events, Communications and Office Manager
Anne Folker
Methodology Team
Ann Folker is a fifth-year PhD student in the Developmental Science program at UMass
Amherst. She joined the CRF methodology team in the Fall of 2023. Her research focuses on
parent-adolescent relationships and other aspects of the environment that relate to the
development of internalizing and externalizing problems during the adolescent transition.
Amherst. She joined the CRF methodology team in the Fall of 2023. Her research focuses on
parent-adolescent relationships and other aspects of the environment that relate to the
development of internalizing and externalizing problems during the adolescent transition.
Alexandra Lauterbach
Methodology Team
Dr. Alexandra A. Lauterbach’s scholarly interest centers on effective literacy instruction for elementary and secondary students with specific learning disabilities (SLD), and effective professional development for teachers of students with SLD. Specifically, she is interested in learning how dimensions of teacher cognition influence teacher quality and achievement of students with SLD, particularly in the area of literacy.