In this second spotlight of a new monthly series highlighting Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) community members and their work, meet YCSC Research Scientist Amanda M. Dettmer, PhD.
How long have you been at Yale, and what role(s) have you filled in this time?
I have been at the YCSC for six years, since September 2018. I started as an Associate Research Scientist, combining my past expertise in science communication and research to help develop initial strategies for communicating research findings within the YCSC and department of pediatrics, as well as to external stakeholders. I simultaneously worked to establish my research lab, the Human & Animal Integrated Research (HAIR) lab, which I have been focusing on full time since 2021.
In my current role as a Research Scientist, I oversee research examining the early life social determinants of lifelong health in human and nonhuman primates—biological, social, and behavioral health. I mentor undergraduate and co-mentor graduate students in this research. I also manage the HAIR Lab's internal and external services to researchers seeking to incorporate biomarkers of chronic physiological stress in their research. And, since 2020 I've been co-directing the YCSC Developmental Science Summer Internship Program for undergraduates, which is one of my favorite roles. Undergraduates are my favorite career stage to mentor.
What led you to your current job?
I've been studying nonhuman primate models of child health and development since I was an undergrad at the University of Washington in Seattle. My love for animals and animal behavior set the foundation for this career, but there was a distinct moment in my sophomore year of college that led me to where I am now. I was sitting in my Animal Behavior class and the professor put up a photo of a baby pigtail macaque. He explained that he "moonlighted" as a professor; his real job was as a psychologist and statistician for the Infant Primate Research Lab, then the nation's only 24-hour staffed facility for infant primates (and this is still true). I immediately went to his office hours after class and asked how I could be involved. I said I would scoop poop—I didn't care what I had to do—and he told me, “They'll give you credit toward your degree to assist with research there!”
The rest, as they say, is history—it's through the mentorship and network I developed at UW that I landed here at the YCSC. My undergrad mentor, Gerry Ruppenthal (who started the Infant Primate Lab) was very close professionally and personally with Dr. Stephen Suomi at NIH, whose lab I conducted my dissertation research in while I was a grad student at UMass Amherst. I did my second postdoc at NIH in Dr. Suomi’s lab, and while there I had the great fortune to meet directly with Drs. Linda Mayes, David Reiss, Jamie McPartland, Helena Rutherford, and others to discuss cross-species collaborations. I still remember very fondly coming up to YCSC in January 2015, very pregnant with my second child, to give a talk on parity effects on chronic hormone secretion and infant developmental outcomes. Just a few years later, I joined the YCSC, and I've been so fortunate to be here ever since.
What is a work-related accomplishment that made you feel proud?
I am proud that I developed a system to increase the diversity of applicants for the developmental science summer internship program, which directly enhances the diversity of the interns who come here for the summer. In 2023, through targeted outreach directly to departmental chairs at historically black colleges & universities (HBCUs) and minority serving institutions (MSIs), we went from 0% to 13% of applicants from these institutions in our first summer. This resulted in 15% of our selected interns coming from HBCUs and MSIs. Of course there is plenty of room for continuous improvement, but I'm proud that our terrific program is growing in this important way, and that the word is getting out to students who may not have otherwise known about this opportunity.
What energizes you outside of work?
Family time rejuvenates me the most. My husband, James, and my two kids Elsa (almost 14) and Ben (10) are my home—home is wherever we are together, wherever that may be. Being in nature energizes me, especially water—rivers, lakes, oceans; I love it all. (This photo is of me in an utter state of relaxation while steering a 62-ft narrowboat on the Kennet & Avon canal in England this past August.) And, my tap dance classes at Neighborhood Music School energize me!
What would you like to share that might surprise your colleagues?
- I lived in the Philippines as a child (5-8yrs old), during the People Power Revolution which resulted in that country electing its first female president (Corazon Aquino) in 1986!
- I am a former triathlete and marathoner. The longest triathlon I ever completed was a Half-Ironman.
- I have a beehive in my backyard—bees were the first animal I ever did research with (as a high school student).
This spotlight series is a spin-off of a similar effort launched in 2023 to feature integrated business operations (IBO) and administration staff at the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC), Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Pediatrics, All in the YCSC community are welcome (and encouraged) to nominate colleagues for this new spotlight series. Self-nominations are welcome.