Applied Research on Children (ARC) Lab

The Applied Research on Children lab is led by lab directors Drs. Rachel Chazan Cohen and Caitlin Lombardi. In addition, the ARC lab is made up of faculty investigators, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Read more about our team below!

Lab Directors

rachel.c.cohen@uconn.edu | UConn

Rachel Chazan Cohen is an Associate Professor and Director of the Early Childhood Program at the University of Connecticut. Throughout her career, working in government and academic settings, Rachel has worked to bridge the worlds of policy, practice and research. She aims both to bring cutting-edge research to decision-makers who make state and federal policies as well as those professionals who work directly with children and families and also to ensure that research is being done that addresses the pressing questions that policymakers and practitioners have. Her own research focuses on the biological, relational, and environmental factors influencing children’s development, and on the creation, evaluation, and improvement of intervention programs for families with infants and toddlers, including home visiting, child care, and Early Head Start. Rachel is particularly interested in the teacher and home visitor competencies necessary for success in working with families with young children and how to build competencies through pre- and in-service professional development. Dr. Rachel Chazan Cohen is accepting graduate student applicants for the 2025-2026 academic year.

caitlin.lombardi@uconn.edu | UConn | Google Scholar Profile | LinkedIn | Twitter

Caitlin Lombardi is an Associate Professor in the Human Development and Family Sciences department at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the roles of family, early child care and education, school, and community for promoting children’s cognitive and social-emotional development, particularly in the context of economic and social disadvantage. The principal goal of this research is to identify the processes through which inequality is transmitted to children’s development in order to understand how policy can best support children and families. Dr. Lombardi began her career working on education, health, and social policy in the U.S. Senate. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Dr. Caitlin Lombardi is accepting graduate student applicants for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Faculty Investigators

beth.russell@uconn.edu | UConn

Beth Russell (she|her) is an Associate Professor in the HDFS department, the Director of the Center for Applied Research in Human Development (CARHD), and co-Director of the Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH). Her research examines the regulation of psychological distress across several normative and atypical contexts from infancy through adulthood. As a contextualist, Dr. Russell aims to situate the perception of and response to stress within the social contexts in which stress occurs, coping behaviors are developed, and treatment plans are implemented. Several examples of her work include the study of young children’s development of self-control in the context of the parent-child relationship and the impacts of trauma-informed interventions bolster k-12^th graders’ resilience. Many of these projects center the experience of families with historically marginalized identities and reduce access to quality support. Most recently, her work has expanded to examine individual and family experiences of stress and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.

marketa.burnett@uconn.edu

Marketa Burnett is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina.  She will join the University of Connecticut in Fall 2023 as an Assistant Professor in Human Development and Family Sciences & Africana Studies.  Her research interests include Black girls' identity development, Black family processes, and STEM persistence. Her research has examined how Black parents (residential and non-residential) actively contribute to the positive development of their children and their ability to thrive using cultural assets and strategies. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

kevin.ferreira_van_leer@uconn.edu

Kevin Ferreira van Leer, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut. As an action researcher he examines the educational and cultural contexts that promote positive development and liberation for Latine immigrant families. Current research includes examining how Latine undergraduates understand student success and perceive “servingness” at a Hispanic Serving Institution (see the Using Our Voices HSI project) as well as investigating how structural factors, such as variation in social policy exclusions for immigrants, and the assets of immigrant communities, are associated with the wellbeing of immigrant families in the U.S (see the Elevating Equity project). Previous research includes the culturally-bounded decision-making process of choosing early childhood education settings for Latine migrant families as well as participatory action research with migrant communities in New England. A scholar-activist, Kevin has been sought out for supporting educational institutions in addressing the ways that policy and practice create and perpetuate inequity for people of color, through extra- and inter- institutional efforts. Within the classroom, Kevin aims to co-construct knowledge and co-examine assumptions in the field while preparing students to critically examine their contexts with the aim of positively transforming them.  

Postdoctoral Researchers

loria.kim@uconn.edu

Loria Kim is a postdoctoral research associate in HDFS at the University of Connecticut, contributing to the Connecticut Early Years project led by Drs. Rachel Chazan Cohen and Caitlin Lombardi. Her research examines the systems that impact the social and emotional well-being of infants, toddlers, their families, and the early childhood care and education workforce, focusing on how integrated systems can support both children and adults. With experience as an infant-toddler educator and applied researcher, Loria aims to inform evidence-based practices and policies that foster high-quality, equitable early childhood care and education and promote the well-being of young children, their families, and the workforce. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Child Development from Michigan State University.

Graduate Students

vanessa.esquivel@uconn.edu 

Vanessa Esquivel is a first-generation Latina scholar and currently a 5th year Ph.D. student in the HDFS program. Vanessa’s research uses mixed methodologies to explore the well-being of Latine and immigrant families through two lenses: (1) exploring contextual factors that influence Latine children’s early childhood development and (2) evaluating the impact of social programs and policies on immigrant families. Through this line of research, Vanessa seeks to understand the experiences of marginalized communities, with an emphasis on Latine and Immigrant families, increase access to fundamental programs, and improve policies for healthy family development. Prior to coming to UCONN, Vanessa worked as a Behavioral Health Intervention Specialist with primarily Spanish-speaking families who were experiencing behavioral or emotional difficulties. Now, under the advisement of Dr. Caitlin Lombardi, Vanessa continues engaging in her research interest, by serving as a Research Assistant on two ARC projects, Evaluating Equity and Educare Springfield. Currently, Vanessa is working on her dissertation which is an explanatory mixed methods study focused on exploring how Early Head Start parent-provider relationships vary among Latine families, how they are associated with outcomes for children and families, and how Latine parents describe their relationship with their provider.

michelle.4.miller@uconn.edu

Michelle Miller is a 4th year PhD student in the HDFS department. She is interested in examining socio-cultural factors that influence the development of immigrant children and their families in addition to culturally responsive intervention and evaluation research within school, community, and family contexts. She holds experience in evaluation having worked as a research assistant at the Center for Court Innovation as part of a restorative justice intervention in NYC schools and having completed a fellowship at the Ford Foundation through the American Evaluation Association’s GEDI program. Additionally, prior to coming to UConn, she worked at Head Start as a teacher’s assistant.

delaina.carlson@uconn.edu 

Delaina Carlson is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her research explores the influence of individual, family, and environmental factors on children’s development during early childhood, with a specific focus on social-emotional development, health and well-being, and the systems that support families, such as early child care and education and parent education programs. Delaina’s work is shaped by her background working in early childhood care and education, Early Intervention, and child care financial assistance. She is an alumna of the University of Pittsburgh’s Applied Developmental Psychology program and the Media and Health Behaviors Laboratory at Dartmouth College, where she contributed to several NIH-funded projects.

amanda.sather@uconn.edu

Amanda Sather is a 1^st year PhD student in the HDFS department. Amanda is interested in examining the role of parent-child relationships on child development. More specifically, she is interested in examining the implications of parent-child relationships on the development of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, as well as social factors. Amanda is also interested in how parent-child relationships can contribute to behavioral problems in children. Prior to coming to UConn Amanda worked on a twin study examining emotions in parent-child relationships.

anne.berset@uconn.edu

Anne Berset is a 2nd-year graduate student in the Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) department at the University of Connecticut, mentored by Dr. Preston Britner. Her research focuses on the biopsychosocial impact of stress and trauma among marginalized adolescents and caregivers, as well as the role of community-based resources in supporting families.

Before joining UConn, Anne contributed to projects at Cincinnati Children's Hospital examining parent-child decision-making processes, and at the University of Denver, where she studied risk and protective factors for Latine immigrants and Iraqi and Syrian refugee caregivers.

Currently, Anne’s work centers on community partnerships and program evaluations, collaborating with Dr. Beth Russell on resource accessibility and with Dr. Britner on factors influencing youth success in the child welfare system. She leads the data collection and analysis of key stakeholder input for the Elevating Equity Project, contributing to the advancement of equity-focused initiatives.

Research Staff

sade.baez@uconn.edu

Sade is a Research Assistant working with Dr. Rachel Chazan-Cohen and Dr. Caitlin Lombardi on the CT Early Years project at the University of Connecticut. She recently graduated from UConn with a bachelor's in Psychology and a minor in HDFS. Before joining UConn Faculty, she provided behavioral monitoring services in healthcare where she identified and worked with nurses to address safety concerns for patients with psychiatric disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and neurocognitive disorders, ensuring that appropriate responses were addressed and documented effectively. Sade aims to pursue a MSW (Master of Social Work) with the goal of becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Her focus is on addressing mental health barriers in marginalized communities. She plans to research structural challenges that limit access to mental health care for minority populations and is dedicated to exploring culturally responsive interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes for underserved children and families.

Lab Alumni

rong.huang@uconn.edu | Google Scholar Profile | LinkedIn

Rong Huang is a postdoctoral research associate in the department of HDFS at the University of Connecticut. She received her Ph.D. degree in Educational Psychology from the University at Albany, SUNY. Rong holds research experience in exploring how disadvantaged environments, such as poverty exposure, impact family practices and children's cognitive and social development during the early childhood years. Rong is also interested in evaluating how home visiting services and childcare programs such as Early Head Start impact child and family outcomes. Overall, her research aims to inform policymakers and practitioners to improve at-risk children's development and families' general well-being.

Google Scholar Profile | LinkedIn

Google Scholar Profile | LinkedIn