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People: Center on Young Adult Health and Development

Director

Amelia M. Arria received a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and completed post-doctoral training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Since 2003, she has been the Principal Investigator on the NIDA-funded College Life Study, a longitudinal prospective study of health-risk behaviors among college students. She is the co-leader of the Maryland Collaborative, which provides training and technical assistance to a network of colleges across the state that are committed to aligning their substance use prevention and intervention strategies with scientific evidence. Her research interests include understanding risk and resiliency associated with underage drinking and illicit drug use, investigating the prenatal effects of maternal drug exposure, and translating research findings for parents and families.

Director of Operations

Kathryn B. Vincent Carr received her B.A. in Sociology from Wake Forest University, and a M.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland, College Park. Since 2004 she has worked on numerous projects with Dr. Arria.

Research Faculty

Brittany A. Bugbee received her B.A. in Spanish, B.S. in Community Health, and M.P.H. in Behavioral and Community Health from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She has worked with CYAHD since 2010 serving as Recruitment Coordinator for the College Life Study and Project Director on several projects, including the AARC evaluation. She is currently the Project Director of the Woodlawn Study.

Maya Deane-Polyak received her B.S. in Community Health and M.P.H. in Health Equity from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She has worked with CYAHD since 2016 and assisted with many projects, including the evaluations of the Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, and Prevention Technology Transfer Center. She is the Project Coordinator for the Connect@College Evaluation.

Katie A. Hippen received her B.S. in Family Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a M.A. in Sociology from Georgia State University. She has been an integral part of the CYAHD team since 2010. She is CYAHD’s Virtual Solutions Lead and works on a variety of projects.

Malinda H. Kennedy received her B.A from Brown University, her MPH from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and her ScD from the Harvard University School of Public Health. She joined CYAHD in 2018 and is the Project Director for the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems.

Grace McManus received her B.S. in Family Science and M.P.H. in Community Health from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She joined CYAHD in 2019 and is the Project Coordinator for the evaluations of the Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, and Prevention Technology Transfer Center.

Kelsey O'Hara received her B.S. in Psychology and her M.P.H. in Health Education from Virginia Tech. She joined CYAHD in 2021 and is the Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems.

 

Affiliate Faculty

Hannah Allen, Assistant Professor, University of Mississippi

Angie L. Barrall, Affiliate Faculty, Department of Behavioral and Community Health (UMD SPH); Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, CDC

Kimberly M. Caldeira, Affiliate Faculty, Department of Behavioral and Community Health (UMD SPH)

Elaine Doherty, Visiting Research Professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health (UMD SPH)

Kerry Green, Professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health (UMD SPH)

Kevin E. O'Grady, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland College Park

Devon Payne-Sturges, Associate Professor, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health (UMD SPH)

CYAHD Research Assistants

Shweta Kannan received her BS in Kinesiology from Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently pursuing a MPH in Healthcare Management (UMD SPH).

Abri Segal recently graduated with her MPH in Environmental Health Sciences (UMD SPH).

Christina Parisi is pursuing her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Florida and is a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) T32 Fellow.