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), Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, and the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation.
Jessica Turgeon, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Jessica Turgeon is a postdoctoral fellow, working under the supervision of Drs. Sheri Madigan and Nicole Racine. She completed her Ph.D. in psychology at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Her research will focus on elucidating understanding of continuities and discontinuities in child maltreatment through meta-analytic work and exploring the association between maternal ACEs and child outcomes in various longitudinal datasets. 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.
Marissa Nivison, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Marissa Nivison is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary’s Determinants of Child Development Lab. She completed her PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the legacy of early caregiving experiences-- specifically in how parent-child relationships and child maltreatment influence wellbeing and adult attachment across the lifespan. Her research is funded by an Eyes High Fellowship through the University of Calgary.
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.
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.
Jessica Cooke (she/her), MSc, 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.
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.
Jackson Hewitt, Graduate Student (Clinical Psychology)
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.
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.
Selena Kahlert, Research Assistant
Selena is currently completing her fourth 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.
selena.kahlert@ucalgary.ca
Komal Keni, Finance Coordinator
Komal is a Honors graduate in Business Economics from the University of Saskatchewan. Previous to her current role as Finance Coordinator she has worked in various administrative and finance capacities in AHS, Cumming School of Medicine and Sobeys. Besides work, she loves spending time with my family, cooking, watching movies, going for walks, travelling and music.
Honours students
Haneen Salama
Haneen is a student in her second year of Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She is planning to finish her undergraduate level with an embedded certificate in Mental Wellbeing and Resilience and to get an Honours degree. Haneen is interested in child psychology and psychopathology. In the future, she hopes to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology.
Maya MacIsaac-Jones
Maya is a third-year student completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She plans to finish her undergraduate degree with Honours in the spring of 2024. Prior to attending University, Maya was a high-performance athlete on the Canadian National Ski Team.
Maya's research interests include Adverse Childhood Experiences and resilience. In the future, Maya hopes to work as a registered Psychologist with a social justice approach.
Sarah Tayyab
Sarah (she/her) is a third-year Bachelor of Arts Psychology student. She plans to finish her undergraduate degree in Spring 2025 with honours. Her research interests include socio-emotional development in relation to caregiver-child attachments. In the future, Sarah plans to pursue graduate studies in clinical psychology with a focus on development.
Han Yu (David) Li
David is in the second year of his Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Having previously studied Biological Sciences, he plans to finish his undergraduate degree in the spring of 2025 with honours. David is particularly interested in identifying determinants of childhood development outcomes in media. Outside of school, David works with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder as a specialized behavioral aide. In the future, David plans to pursue graduate studies in Clinical or Educational Psychology.
Student Volunteers
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.
Past Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Dr. Joanne Park (Assistant Professor, Mount Royal University)
Dr. Audrey-Ann Deneault (Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal)
Dr. Nicole Racine (Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa)
Dr. Brae Anne McArthur (Director of the Psychology Clinic and Instructor, University of Calgary)
Dr. Marc Jambon (Assistant Professor, Wilfred Laurier University)
Dr. Rochelle Hentges (NIH Center for Scientific Review)
Past Honours and Graduate Students
Julianna Park (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Tashia Christie (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
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
Paolo Pador (Psychology Honours Student, University of Calgary)
Valeriya Volkova (Graduate Student, University of Calgary)
Jasmeet Khatkar (Undergraduate Student, University of Calgary)
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)
2022 DCD LAB EVENT
To celebrate the hard work of the DCD Lab members, we all gathered to create our own terrariums at a plant workshop!
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!
