YCSC Connections
Featuring updates, news you can use, events, and more from the Yale Child Study Center.
Chair's Message
It was a joy to have so many join us at our annual meeting of the associates last week – many thanks to those who attended. For those who were not able to join, the meeting recording is available, as is a summary of the event, linked below. Since our last newsletter, so much work has been underway at the center, along with a remarkable number of events and announcements shared – from the launch of the new leadership Grand Rounds series to several grants and awards announced, and more.
As we look ahead to Thanksgiving around the country next week, bringing friends and families together while ensuring others are not alone, we must also reflect on the suffering around the world, wrapping our gratitude with the hope that there will soon be relief. Along with this hope, I certainly feel gratitude – especially for all our community members and supporters, and all you do to help improve the lives of children and families.
Linda Mayes, MD
Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology; Chair
Yale Child Study Center
Departmental News & Updates
Yale Child Study Center Staff Spotlight November 2023
In the latest edition of a YCSC staff spotlight series launched in February, meet Financial Assistant Charlton Daye, who has been at Yale for 15 years.
3 Nov 2023Annual meeting features individual stories & the impact of generosity
Nearly 100 participants joined an annual meeting hosted by the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) on November 8, 2023 to gather YCSC Associates and other community members together and feature the multi-faceted work of the center. The annual event has been held for nearly 40 years.
15 Nov 2023Welcoming new YCSC community members: November 2023
A belated welcome is extended to Youcai Yang, PhD, who joined the YCSC as a visiting associate professor in September, while Selin Kelly, LMSW and Veronica Meneses, MD joined the department the first week in November.
14 Nov 2023October 2023 YCSC Faculty Development Fund Awardees
YCSC faculty members Amanda Dettmer, PhD; Anamaria Orozco, LCSW; and Ellen Hoffman, MD, PhD are the recipients of the latest round of awards for the departmental Clinical and Research Faculty Development Fund.
14 Nov 2023Select speakers announced: Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds Winter/Spring 2024
The Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds Committee is pleased provide a sneak peek of some of the distinguished speakers planned for the departmental Grand Rounds series in the upcoming spring semester.
13 Nov 2023Cipriano awarded Research-to-Policy Collaboration Scholar Award
Dr. Christina (Chris) Cipriano, Director of the Education Collaboratory at Yale, was awarded a Research-to-Policy Collaboration Scholar Award from the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center.
13 Nov 2023School Climate Walkthrough Tool Selected for Semi-Final Round of VITAL Prize Challenge
Researchers at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (YCEI) moved on to the semi-final round of the VITAL Prize Challenge in August, for the development of "The School Climate Walkthrough: A Student-Led Digital Tool to Improve School Experiences."
9 Nov 2023Embry, Salahou Present at 2023 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting
Terrance Embry, MD, third-year resident, and Abiba Salahou, MD, first year resident, presented at the 2023 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting October 23-28 in New York.
7 Nov 2023Epstein receives Cecilia Gastón Award for support of Latinx communities
Yale Child Study Center Assistant Professor Carrie Epstein was recently awarded the 2023 Cecilia Gastón Award in honor of her longtime partnership with the New York City Violence Intervention Program in supporting Latinx communities in need.
24 Oct 2023Cho, Favuzzi, Girgenti, Keding, Westwater Awarded BBRF Young Investigator Grants
YCSC Assistant Professor Youngsun Cho, MD, PhD is one of five Yale Department of Psychiatry and Child Study Center researchers who have been awarded Young Investigator Grants from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
20 Oct 2023
Upcoming Events
Everyone All DayBenjamin Powers - Mark Seidenberg - Devin Kearns - Nicole Landi, PhD - Jay Rueckl - Julia Lindsey - Danielle ScorranoThe Literate Brain: Research from the Leading Edge
Presented by the Yale Child Study Center and the Global Literacy Hub, this two-day conference will be hosted in-person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, December 4, 2023 and 8 a.m. to noon in Tuesday, December 5, 2023. The event is designed to bring the latest, ground-breaking scientific research in how children learn to read, and translate those insights into practical classroom strategies. Register by December 1, 2023.
Everyone Amy Arnsten, PhD - Christopher van Dyck, MD - Allyson Berent, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM - Tim Yu, MD, PhD
Everyone Alessandra Lemma, PhD (Presenter) - Lisa Marcus, PhD (Discussant) - Matthew Shaw, PhD (Moderator)Ritvo Lecture: "The Missing: Exploring the use of photographs in ‘working through’ the natal body with transgender youth"
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds Special Lecture
Jointly sponsored by the Yale Child Study Center and the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, the 2023 Ritvo Lecture will be conducted via Zoom on Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 12-2 p.m. ET. Endowed by the first director of training in child psychiatry at Yale, Samuel Ritvo, MD and his wife Lucille Ritvo in 2007, the annual Ritvo Lecture focuses on bringing modern psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thought to child and adolescent mental health practice, with a particular focus on its trainees.
News You Can Use
On Leadership: Pam Sutton-Wallace on Leading from a Place of Meaning
In the latest edition of the Yale Child Study Center “On Leadership” blog post and newsletter column, Daryn David, PhD reflects on the first lecture in a new leadership-focused series launched at the center, Exploring and Enhancing Leadership in the Academy, a fireside chat with Pamela Sutton-Wallace, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Yale-New Haven Health System.
14 Nov 2023How Racism Affects the Mental Health of Black Youth
In this commentary piece in Time, YCSC Clinical Fellow Amanda Joy Calhoun, MD, MPH, who also serves as Chief Resident of the Yale Albert J. Solnit Integrated Adult/Child Psychiatry program, addresses the mental health effects of anti-Black racism on Black youth.
Source: Time14 Nov 2023Tipping the Scales: Supporting the Intergenerational Needs of Families Impacted by Substance Use Disorders
In a webinar on November 8, 2023 hosted by YCSC Associate Research Scientist Amanda Lowell, PhD, participants learned about research linking the neuroscience of addiction and trauma to parenting struggles and developmental risks in families affected by parental substance use. The implications for parenting interventions that target parental mentalizing capacity and child attachment security were also reviewed.
Source: NYC Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Technical Assistance Center8 Nov 2023Students with Learning Differences Need Outspoken Champions
YCSC Lecturer and Global Literacy Hub Director Benjamin Powers addresses the importance of champions and a strengths-based approached to helping struggling students thrive in this guest blog post.
Source: ADDitude Magazine18 Oct 2023Brain Control in Infancy Linked to Cognitive Ability in Toddlers
The findings give new insight into how the brain functions very early in life and could point to treatment options for correcting developmental trajectories affected by neurodevelopmental disorders, the researchers said.
Source: YaleNews16 Oct 2023Beyond Creative Potential
Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle explores the meaning of creative potential and the path and obstacles from imagination to creative achievement.
Source: Creativity Decision9 Oct 2023
Upcoming Grand Rounds
Nurturing Connection: Promoting Early Relational Health in the Context of Inpatient Medical Care
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Celeste Poe, PhD, LMFT
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds: "Early Communication in Autism: A New Tool to Support Clinical Decision Making"
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Brian Boyd, PhD
Support Not Report: The Weaponization of Mandated Reporting and the Call for Support of Black Children and Families
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds: Compassionate Care Rounds
Speakers: Onyi Okeke, MD, Ana-Laura Bush, LCSW, Yann Poncin, MD
Leading with Intention and Heart in Academic Medicine
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds "On Leadership"
Speaker: Daryn David, PhD
In the Media
Juhl: You must talk with your children about climate change. Here's how
YCSC Clinical Fellow Laelia Benoit, MD, PhD is interviewed in this article addressing the importance of open communication and modeling positive action to help transform children from eco-worriers into an eco-warriors.
Source: Montreal Gazette11 Nov 2023Dr. Cheyeon Ha named 2023-2025 CASEL Weissberg Scholar
Dr. Cheyeon Ha has been named as a 2023-2025 CASEL Weissberg Scholar. The Collaborative leads the CASEL Weissberg Scholars program to inspire the next generation of innovators who will strengthen the vision of social and emotional learning (SEL). The program provides educational and professional development and creates a collaborative community of early career scholars who are eager to make a difference with SEL.
Source: CASEL24 Oct 2023Dr. Christina Cipriano’s Story: My Path to SEL Research
In this recorded interview, YCSC Assistant Professor Christina Cipriano, PhD talks about her experiences prior to leading researchers on a major SEL study. When she was a high school student disappointed by how communities were dealing with the news of school shootings, she wrote a letter to a local Congressperson that got her invited to the White House to join a youth anti-violence initiative.
Source: CASEL24 Oct 2023New First-Generation Low-Income Program Aims to Create Community at YSM
Support. Skills. Community. That's what a new Yale School of Medicine program hopes to provide its first-generation and/or low-income individuals. And the concept is personal.
20 Oct 2023Encouraging HIV Testing in Teens Through Video Games
Lynn Fiellin, professor of medicine (general medicine), and a team of researchers from Yale conducted a trial using a video game to improve teenagers to get HIV testing and to tackle misunderstandings about the condition.
Source: Tech Explorist13 Oct 2023