Department of Psychology, University of Calgary
DETERMINANTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT LAB
Sheri Madigan, PhD, Director, Determinants of Child Development Lab
Dr. Madigan is a Canada Research Chair in the Determinants of Child Development. She joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary in 2015 and is currently directing the Determinants of Child Development Lab, a lab that is dedicated to conducting research on the multidimensional influences that shape children's developmental trajectories. Dr. Madigan is a principal-investigator on several research projects on children's development supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, and the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation.
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Audrey-Ann Deneault, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Audrey-Ann Deneault is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary’s Determinants of Child Development Lab. She completed her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Her research examines how parent-child relationships and parent-child attachment foster positive socio-emotional and cognitive development in children. She is particularly interested in father-child relationships and the influence of different family systems (e.g., coparenting relationship, sibling relationships) on child development. Her research is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship and a supplement from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et culture Postdoctoral Fellowship Supplement.
Anh Ly, MA, Research Coordinator
Anh is a doctoral student in medical anthropology at the University of California, Riverside. She is happy to be back in Calgary where she completed her previous graduate studies and where she formerly worked as a Research Coordinator/Associate on several Aboriginal health projects for the Department of Family Medicine and Alberta Health Services. Her current research interests include: anthropology of infectious disease, global health and governance, colonial medicine, science and technology studies, and ethnography of Southeast Asia.
Jessica Cooke, Graduate Student, PhD Candidate (Clinical Psychology)
Jessy (she/her) is completing the third year of her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on understanding how caregiver adversity, caregiver-child attachment relationships, and caregiving behaviours influence child development and risk for psychopathology. Her research is funded by an Alberta Innovates Graduate Studentship in Health Solutions and a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.
Camille Mori (she/her), MSc, Graduate Student, PhD Candidate (Clinical Psychology)
Camille’s curiosities include the psychosocial factors that impact human development, lifespan psychology, inclusive and multidisciplinary practices in mental health, and clinical mechanisms of change. Camille’s research investigates the association between exposure to sexual content and PSB, and the outcomes of a locally delivered PBS-intervention. Her research is funded by a SSHRC doctoral scholarship.
Rachel Eirich, MSc, Graduate Student, PhD Candidate (Clinical Psychology)
Rachel is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Calgary. She is interested in examining the role of screen time on children's socioemotional development, as well as how technology can interfere with caregiver-child interactions and attachment relationships. Rachel currently holds funding through an Isaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship as well as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council scholarship.
Jenney Zhu, MSc, Graduate Student, PhD Candidate (Clinical Psychology)
Jenney holds a Bachelor of Arts, Honours Specialization in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario. Her research interests include understanding the role of adverse childhood experiences on adulthood relationship outcomes, including caregiver-child and romantic relationship interactions.
Julianna Watt, Research Assistant
Julianna completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at McGill University. Her interests include language development and bilingualism, as well as intelligence and learning disabilities in children. In the future, Julianna hopes to pursue graduate studies in School and Applied Child Psychology at the University of Calgary.
Paolo Pador, Research Assistant
Paolo (he/him) graduated with his Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology at the University of Calgary where he completed his honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Madigan and Jessica Cooke. His research interests include child development and early parent-child interactions. He is currently a research assistant in the DCD lab and working on a project examining the impact of maternal traumatic experiences on mother-child attachment.
Julianna Park, Research Assistant
Julianna is in the final year of her BSc in Psychology at the University of Calgary. She will be completing her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Madigan. Her interests include the socioemotional development of children and adolescents. Julianna is a recipient of the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentship. She is currently working under the guidance of Camille Mori, exploring the prevalence of sexting behaviour in adolescents. In the future, she hopes to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology.
Tashia Christie, PURE Summer Studentship
Tashia is beginning her final year at the University of Calgary. She will be completing her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with honours under the supervision of Dr. Madigan and Dr. McArthur. Tashia also holds a minor in sociology and an embedded certificate in Mental Wellbeing and Resilience. Her research interests include postpartum mental health, childhood development and mental wellbeing, and social-emotional learning. She is currently completing a PURE position within the lab under the supervision of Dr. McArthur.
Alberta Innovates
Clinician Fellowship Holder
SSHRC Fellowship Holder
ACHRI Posdoctoral Research Fellowship Holder
Summer students
Jackson Hewitt
Jackson is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Calgary. He recently graduated from the University of British Columbia with a major in psychology. He is interested in the mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of psychological risk. Specifically, his interests include the parent-child relationship and its short and long term impact on psychological and interpersonal functioning, attachment styles and developmental processes.
Celeste Holy
Celeste is in the third year of her BA in Psychology at the University of Calgary. Her interests include parent-child interactions and the psychosocial impact of speech disorders on children. Celeste is a recipient of the Alberta Innovates Summer Studentship and will be working under the guidance of Dr. Brae Anne McArthur, exploring the effect of technoference on child mental health outcomes. In the future, she hopes to pursue graduate studies in Speech-Language Pathology.
Stefanie Wang
Stefanie is entering her fourth year in completing her Bachelor of Arts and Science in the Cognitive Science interfaculty program at McGill University. Her interests include the early stages of child development and the long-lasting impact of childhood experiences. Stefanie is a recipient of the Alberta Innovates Summer Research Studentship 2022, working under the guidance of Dr. Sheri Madigan. She hopes that in the future she will be able to integrate her passion towards child development research with her interest in medical illustration and communication.
Student Volunteers
Valeriya Volkova, BSc(Hons), PhD Candidate
Valeriya is a PhD candidate in Kinesiology at the University of Calgary, completing a specialization in Wearable Technology. She participated in the 2019 Innovation 4 Health Hack-a-thon where she worked with a team led by Sheri, Nicole, and Brae to develop a wearable sensor capable of objectively capturing screen time in children. Since then, Valeriya has been working on a screen time meta-analysis under Sheri’s and Brae’s leadership. When not in the lab conducting her doctoral research, Valeriya coaches competitive gymnastics and serves on several committees at and outside UCalgary.
valeriya.volkova@ucalgary.ca
Jasmeet Khatkar
Jasmeet is in her final year of her BSc in Psychology at the University of Calgary. She is also currently completing her honors thesis under Dr. Susan Boon. Her research interests include interpersonal relationships and the mental health of youth minorities and immigrants. She hopes to complete graduate studies in Counselling Psychology.
Selena Kahlert
Selena is currently completing her third year of a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Her research interests include early language development and clinical child psychology. In the future, Selena hopes to pursue a Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology.
Haneen Salama
I am a student in my second year of Bachelor of Science in Psychology. I am planning to finish my undergraduate level with an embedded certificate in Mental Wellbeing and Resilience and to get an Honours degree. I am interested in child psychology and psychopathology. In the future, I hope to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology
Past Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Dr. Marc Jambon (University of Toronto Mississauga)
Dr. Rochelle Hentges (NIH Center for Scientific Review)
Dr. Nicole Racine
Dr. Brae Anne McArthur
Past Honours and Graduate Students
Chloe Devereux (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Ciana Anhorn (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Logan Van Roessel (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Walaa Taha (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Past Research Assistants and Volunteers
Claire McGuinness (Masters Student, University of Calgary)
Katarina Padilla (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Mirele Koumary (Masters Student, University of Calgary)
Idy Akpan (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Sophia Lu (Undergraduate Student, University of Calgary)
Jaedyn Paarup (Undergraduate Student, University of Calgary)
Fatima Shah (Undergraduate Student, University of Calgary)
Simal Saeed (Psychology Student, University of Calgary)
Katie Zumalt (Graduate Student, Columbia University)
Claire McGuinness (Graduate Student, University of Calgary)
Rachel Pagaling (Graduate Student, University of Calgary)
Nina Anderson (Graduate Student, University of Denver)
Audrey Gauthier-Légaré (Graduate Student, Université Laval)
John Choi (Bachelor of Health Sciences Student, University of Calgary)
Mackenzie Beaupre
Rejimol Perika (Health Sciences Major, University of Calgary)
Vanessa Huynh (Health Sciences and Biomedical Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Elena Buliga (Graduate Student, University of Calgary)
Shanaya Fischer (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Zoe Hodgins (Graduate Student, McMaster University)
Danae Laut (Graduate Student, University of Calgary)
Sara Lolarga (Psychology Major, University of Calgary)
Julia Poole (Graduate Student, University of Calgary)
Lea Schumacher (International Exchange Student, University of Groningen, Netherlands)
Kaleem Khan (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Helen Wang (Health Sciences Major, University of Calgary)
2021 DCD LAB EVENT
After over a year of social gathering restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DCD Lab Members were able to reunite for an outdoor picnic to say farewell to our beloved lab coordinator, Chloe, who is starting her graduate program in Counseling Psychology at the University of Alberta! Thank you, Chloe, for all your contributions to the lab, your lovely presence will be dearly missed!
2018 DCD Lab Event
Thanks to our DCD Lab Members who made it to our bowling event/goodbye party for Nina! We are wishing Nina all the best as she moves on to her next adventure and starts her graduate program in Clinical Psychology! We also wish the following students best of luck as they begin their graduate studies this fall: Claire McGuinness, Rachel Pagaling, and Katie Zumalt! Last, we say farewell to our summer graduate exchange student, Audrey Gauthier-Légaré! We will miss having you all in lab!
2017 DCD Lab Event
Thanks DCD Lab Members for your endless hard work and dedication to our lab! We couldn't do it without you!
