Principal Investigator

Kayla Herbell, PhD, RN
Dr. Herbell is an assistant professor in the Martha S. Pitzer Center for Women, Children, and Youth at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Herbell’s program of research is devoted to optimizing treatment gains for adolescents who access residential treatment by way of providing their caregivers with tailored education and support. Herbell’s research is inspired by her time working as a staff nurse at a residential treatment center, during which she noticed that adolescents and their families faced a lot of challenges and little support in their transition back to the community. This experience taught her that in order to enact change, population-specific interventions would need to be developed with family input, and health policy enacted for these families’ trajectories to change. She now conducts research with parents as partners in the research process, advocates for residential treatment reform through family-focused scholarship and presents her findings to stakeholders in the community to develop evidence-informed policies to improve care.

Project Coordinator

Anh Thu Thai, DHA, RRT, RCP
Anh Thu Thai has a background in respiratory and her doctorate in healthcare administration. Her former research projects focused on lupus and breast and cervical cancer. Her professional interests focus on addressing health disparities for Asian Americans, immigrants, and refugees.

 

Research Assistant

Sophie Berger, BA
Sophie Berger is a recent graduate from Denison University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. Her senior year undergraduate research project focused on blame given to sexual assault survivors based on their gender and sexuality. She has a strong interest in clinical psychology with a focus on trauma. She hopes to obtain a Master’s of Social Work and become a licensed therapist.

Co-Investigators

Susie Breitenstein, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN

Susie Breitenstein, PhD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at The Ohio State University’s College of Nursing. Her research focuses on improving the social and emotional well-being of parents and children, specifically through parent training interventions. Dr. Breitenstein’s research focuses on innovative delivery models and implementation science to increase access and sustainability of evidence-based programs to promote positive parent-child relationships and support optimal child development.

Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN

Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN is the Vice President for Health Promotion and Chief Wellness Officer at The Ohio State University. Dr. Melnyk’s work spans evidence-based practice, intervention research, child and adolescents mental health, and health and wellness. Dr. Melnyk has been successful in scaling her COPE program to real world clinical settings; it is currently being used in all 50 states and being reimbursed in primary care settings.

 

Alai Tan, PhD

Alai Tan, PhD is a Research Professor and lead statistician in hte College of Nursing at The Ohio State University. She has rich experience in the design and analysis of clinical, translational, and epidemiological research. Her expertise includes but is not limited to comparative effectiveness research, multilevel modeling, predictive modeling, predictive modeling, and risk adjustment.