Dr. Margaret Caughy
Dr. Margaret Caughy’s research combines the unique perspectives of developmental science, epidemiology, and public health in studying the contexts of risk and resilience affecting young children. She is particularly interested in race/ethnic disparities in health and development and how these disparities can be understood within the unique ecological niches of ethnic minority families.
Dr. Caughy has been the principal investigator of several studies focused on how inequities in family and community processes affect the cognitive development, socioemotional functioning, and early academic achievement of young children in diverse race/ethnic groups. Another theme of her research has been methodological, specifically methods related to measuring neighborhood context and the utilization of these measures in models explaining child developmental competence using multilevel and structural equations modeling methods.
Please find Dr. Caughy's Curriculum Vitae here.
Meet our Graduate Students
Katharine Suma
Katie Suma is a doctoral candidate in Human Development and Family Science. She holds a M.S. degree in Educational Psychology from Georgia State University and a B.S. in Child Development from Florida State University. She has been involved in numerous projects throughout her research career including adult and child literacy, communication development, joint engagement in typically developing and at risk toddlers, genetic expressions related to joint engagement, joint attention skills, community screening and evaluation of autism, access to intervention post early-diagnosis, and systematic observational ratings of dyadic interactions. Her current research interests involve furthering the use of systematic observational tools on diverse cultures.
Rachel Taylor
Rachel is a fourth-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Science. She holds a B.S. Psychology from Eastern Michigan University and a M.A. Human Development and Family Science from the University of Connecticut. Her research involves topics in both human development and developmental methodology. Specifically, her research investigates positive development, particularly character development and adjustment. Her quantitative interests include meta-analysis, the analysis of longitudinal data, and missing data/data imputation methods.
KeLa Allen
KeLa Allen is a fourth-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Science. She holds a M.S. in Human Development Family Science from the University of Georgia and a B.S. from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Human Development and Family Science with a emphasis in Child Development and Education. Her research interests are broadly centered around minority children's educational outcomes and racial discrimination. More specifically, she is interested in researching how race and racial discrimination impacts academic achievement and school readiness. KeLa also has a special interest in African American, early childhood, and elementary school-aged children.
Nikia Pinson
Nikia is a third-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Science. She received her MSW from the University of Georgia where she specialized in working with diverse populations of adolescents and adults with substance use issues in rural Georgia. Broadly, her research centers around adolescent substance use. More specifically, her research focuses on African-American and multiracial adolescent substance use in rural communities.
Roshaye Poleon
Roshaye Poleon is a first-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Science. She received her B.A. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University with a focus on Human Behavior and Cognition. Her research interests include studying how familial and cultural contexts shape caregiving practices and child outcomes in Black and African-American families, specifically focusing on the unique promotive factors influencing child development.
Zikeal Howard
Zikeal is a first-year dual MPH/MSW graduate student. He holds a B.S. and M.S. degree in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Georgia. His research interests include exploring how access to adequate resources affects children's social, emotional, and cognitive development. More specifically, he is interested in researching how inadequate resources impact the academic achievement of minority children and affects their long-term educational outcomes. Zikeal is particularly interested in working with African American, early childhood-aged, and elementary school-aged children.
SDCD Graduate Alumni - Where are they now?
Dr. LaRen Morton
Dr. Morton is currently a postdoctoral policy fellow in the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in Washington, D. C.
Dr. Yolanda Machado
Dr. Machado is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at The University of North Florida.
Dr. Victoria King
Dr. King is the Project Coordinator for Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) at the Center for Family Research in Athens, Georgia.
Chandler Townsend
Chandler is a practicing Child Life Specialist working at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Sihong Liu
Dr. Liu is a postdoctoral scholar at the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon.
Dr. Kimberly Osborne
Dr. Osborne is a postdoctoral associate at Arizona State University.
Dr. Ashley Walsdorf
Dr. Walsdorf is a Program Therapist at Promises Behavioral Health in Austin, TX, specializing in the treatment of addiction.
Daisy Gallegos
Daisy is now the research coordinator on an NIH funded project with Dr. Cindy Suveg in the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia.
Dr. Leslie Anderson
Dr. Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Child and Family Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Dr. Dawn Brinkley
Dr. Brinkley currently works in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia.
