In The News
5/2022 : Josh Marchant will be starting a position as research coordinator for the NIH initiative Environmental Contributions to Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) study. Josh completed his honors thesis with Parisa Kaliush and Sheila Crowell and was integral to Parisa’s sleep study. Congratulations, Josh!
4/2022 : Undergraduate RA Joseph Amici will be attending medical school at the University of Utah in the fall! We’re so proud of the future Dr. Amici!
4/2022 : Sheila Crowell’s graduate student Nicolette Molina received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship! Nicolette will be studying how prenatal exposure to racism can impact child health and neurodevelopment. We are so proud of you, Nicolette!
4/2022 : CAN Lab undergraduate RA Lauren Pasternak was hired as a Clinical Research Assistant to work with Dr. Laura Stroud on critical maternal interviewing tasks related to prenatal substance use. Lauren was a stellar research assistant for Parisa Kaliush’s NRSA-funded dissertation project on maternal prenatal sleep. Congratulations, Lauren!
3/2022 : Research assistant Alex Peterson will be joining the doctoral program in developmental psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Congratulations on your offer, Alex!
3/21/2022 : Graduate student Katie Wyant-Stein has her Op-Ed published highlighting the importance of raising the mimimum wage in Utah.
3/2022 : Post-baccalaureate research assistant Jonah Hickman will be attending a fully-funded Masters program in Psychological Sciences at William and Mary this fall. Jonah was supervised by Parisa Kaliush and Sheila Crowell and worked on our sleep study and coding for the still-face paradigm. Congrats, Jonah!
3/2022 : Former research assistant Mia Peralta has decided to accept a graduate admissions offer in clinical psychology at Southern Illinois University. Congratulations, Mia!
3/2022 : High school senior Lucy Kwittken received 2nd place in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium for her research on prenatal stress and epigenetic outcomes. She has advanced to the New York State competition in Albany, New York! Congrats, Lucy we are so excited for you!
3/2022 : High school senior Lucy Kwittken received 2nd place in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium for her research on prenatal stress and epigenetic outcomes. She has advanced to the New York State competition in Albany, New York! Congrats, Lucy we are so excited for you!
2/2022 : Congratulations to Joanne Moffatt who has accepted a graduate position in Linguistics at the University of Utah! Joanne has been working on the BABY study for 2 years with myself and Lee Raby. We’re so proud of you, Joanne!
1/2022 : Jonah Hickman, a post-bacc RA, has received a notice of acceptance for his poster abstract at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, which will be in SLC from April 7th - 9th! The title of his poster is, "Maternal emotion dysregulation predicts parenting-related stress above and beyond depressive symptoms at 7 months postpartum."
1/2022 : Graduate student Parisa Kaliush is selected as the recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s Weiss Grant. Congratulations, Parisa!
12/2021 : Undergraduate Pegah Shadalo receives a stipend from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to conduct her research on maternal history of abuse and placental epigenetic outcomes. Congrats, Pegah!
12/2021 : Undergraduate Shane Denherder receives a stipend from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to conduct his research on the reliability and validity of our virtual assessments of prenatal distress. Congrats, Shane!
12/2021 : Undergraduate Josh Marchant received the Diverse Undergraduate Research Award to fund her research in the CAN Lab with graduate student Parisa Kaliush. Congratulations, Josh!
12/2021 : Undergraduate Pegah Shadalo received the Diverse Undergraduate Research Award to fund her research in the CAN Lab! Congratulations, Pegah!
8/2021 : Pegah Shadalo is accepted to the EuroScholars program. There are on average 15 students from the United States accepted into this prestigious international research program. Congratulations, Pegah!
4/2021 : Dr. Conradt contributes to the baby sleep blog about sleep in children with prenatal opioid exposure. Blogs featured below:
4/2021 : Undergraduate Mariah Vigil has been accepted into a doctoral program for school psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Congratulations, Mariah!
2/2021 : Former undergraduate research assistant Kelcy Coon is accepted to the Mental Health Counseling graduate program at Montana State University! We’re so proud of you, Kelcy!
1/15/2021 : Barbara Camara, former undergraduate honors student, accepted a post-bac research assistant position with Dr. Catherine Monk. Congrats, Barbara!
8/2020 : Graduate student Nila Shakiba is the recipient of the 2020 Society for Research in Child Development Dissertation Funding Award. We’re so proud of you, Nila!
6/10/2020 : Nila Shakiba wins the University of Utah Developmental Area Professional Development Award for her outstanding research contributions this year. Congratulations, Nila!
5/2020 : Undergraduate honors student and BABY study data manager Dylan Neff received the 2020 Academic Excellence Award from the Honors College for his outstanding honors thesis on fetal programming of the sympathetic nervous system. Congratulations, Dylan!
4/2020 : Graduate student Mindy Brown receives the Ron McBride Foundation Play for Life Summer Fellowship to support her prenatal opioid exposure research. Congrats, Mindy!
3/2020 : Melissa Brewster, a senior in the CAN Lab, has accepted a graduate position at the University of Denver to work with Dr. Elysia Davis! Congratulations, Melissa!
1/2020 : Undergraduate Dylan Neff will be giving an oral presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in March. Congratulations, Dylan!
9/4/2019 : Dr. Conradt’s research is highlighted to promote the University of Utah’s Vice President’s Clinical and Translational Scholars Program: Cultivating Scientific Success
8/28/2019 : Dr. Conradt’s research with collaborators from the NIH ECHO study on prenatal opioid exposure is described in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read about it here.
5/14/2019 : Former undergraduate RA Luciana Salmi received a Fulbright fellowship to pursue her research interests in Italy! Luciana will examine the effects of stress and social support on women with a high body mass index. Congratulations, Luciana!
4/30/2019 : Alex Peterson has been selected for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program for his project examining the effect of financial stress on psychophysiology during pregnancy. Congratulations, Alex!
4/8/2019 : Graduate student Nila Shakiba is granted the University of Utah Clayton Award for Excellence in Graduate Research for her participation at the Columbia University Epigenetics Bootcamp this summer. Congratulations, Nila!
3/30/2019 : Graduate student Nila Shakiba receives the Consortium for Families and Health Research Research Fund award for her participation in an epigenetics bootcamp this summer. Congratulations, Nila!
3/5/2019 : Undergraduate Blakely May accepted a criminal justice position with victim services! We’re so sad to see you go, Blakely, and wish you the best at your new job!
3/1/2019 : Dylan Neff received a scholarship to participate in the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) in the CAN Lab! We are so excited to continue our work with you, Dylan!
3/1/2019 : Undergraduate Dylan Neff received an Office of Undergraduate Research Travel Grant to support his participation at the Society for Research in Child Development biannual meeting in March. Dylan will be presenting his poster titled, “Prenatal Programming of the Infant Sympathetic Nervous System.” We are so proud of you, Dylan!
2/21/2019 : Ashley Allen, an undergraduate honors student, was accepted into the University of Utah’s Masters of Social Work program! Congratulations, Ashley!
1/30/2019 : Graduate student Nila Shakiba received the 2019 Graduate Student Travel Award from the Society for Research in Child Development to support her attendance at the Biennial meeting in March. Congratulations, Nila!
1/28/2019 : Undergraduate Celine Saenz received the 2019 Neimark Student Travel Award from the Society for Research in Child Development to support her attendance at the Biennial meeting in Baltimore in March! Celine will be presenting a poster on her prenatal opioid exposure research. We’re so proud of you, Celine!
12/10/2018 : Barbara Camara receives the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) for the Spring 2019 semester! Barbara will be paid for her work in the CAN Lab. She codes videos for maternal sensitivity, collects data at 18 months, and helps us with our EEG assessments. Congratulations, Barbara!
12/10/2018 : Amy Palmer receives the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) for the Spring 2019 semester! Amy will be paid for her work in the CAN Lab. She helps us collect our 7 month data, cleans data, and will be working on analyzing some of our father data. Congratulations, Amy!
12/2018 : Ashley Allen’s oral abstract, “Borderline personality disorder during pregnancy, physiology, and newborn neurobehavior” was accepted at the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research at Weber State University. Congratulations, Ashley!
12/2018 : CAN Lab collaborator Sarah Priddy is the recipient of the 2019 Society for Social Work and Research Doctoral Fellows Award for her dissertation proposal entitled “The Impact of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement on Opioid Misuse During Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Her research was judged by members of the Society to be most deserving of this prestigious award. In conferring the award, the Society recognizes the significance of the problem addressed in her research, the rigor of the analysis and its contribution to knowledge in social work and social welfare. We are so proud of you, Sarah!
12/2018 : Former undergraduate RA Landon Oswald will be attending dental school at the University of Utah in the Fall, 2019. Congratulations, Landon!
10/18/2018 : Dr. Conradt receives the World Association for Infant Mental Health New Investigator Award! More info here.
9/28/2018 : Dr. Conradt’s research on how breastfeeding may be related to changes in the activity of a gene that regulates the stress hormone cortisol has been published in the journal Pediatrics. Media coverage can be found here.
9/24/2018 : Robert Vlisides-Henry and his graduate student colleagues head to rural parts of the state to talk to high school students about the field of psychology and undergraduate education at the University of Utah. Robby is Sheila Crowell’s student and a graduate RA on the BABY study. Thank you, Robby, for taking the time to engage in these important outreach efforts! We are proud of you!
9/05/2018 : Luciana Salmi receives an Honors Scholarship to the Oxford Consortium on Human Rights this October in New York City. Congratulations, Luciana!
4/30/2018 : Mindy Brown receives the Clayton Award for research on underrepresented groups for her masters thesis titled "An Experimental Test of the Effects of Acute Stress and Parental Bonding History on Maternal Sensitivity” Congratulations, Mindy!
4/2018 : Luciana Salmi was selected to receive a travel award from the Office of Undergraduate Research. Congratulations, Luciana!
4/2018 : Congratulations to postdoctoral scholar Betty Lin for receiving the Postdoc Travel Assistance Award to travel to the International Congress on Infant Studies from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs!
3/2018 : Congratulations to Courtney Stormann, former undergraduate RA, for her acceptance at Rutgers University School of Social Work! We’ll miss you, Courtney!
3/2018 : Congratulations to Mindy Brown who received the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Research-related Travel support for her participation at the International Congress on Infant Studies!
3/2018 : Mindy Brown, a graduate student in the CAN Lab, was awarded $500 from the CSBS Graduate Research-Related Travel Support program. Congratulations, Mindy!
3/2018 : Ashley Allen was selected to complete the intensive Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) under the mentorship of Dr. Elisabeth Conradt. Congratulations, Ashley!
3/2018 : 2018 Luciana Salmi receives a grant from Psi Chi to travel to the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Convention. Congratulations, Luciana!
3/2018 : Undergraduate Honors student Luciana Salmi presents her honors thesis at “Research on Capitol Hill day” to our state senators and congressmen. Congratulations, Luciana!
3/2018 : Nila Shakiba, Bruce Ellis’s student and a contributor to the CAN Lab, successfully defends her Masters thesis entitled, “Biological sensitivity to context: An exploratory test of the hypothesized relation between early adversity and stress responsivity.” Congratulations, Nila!
2/2018 : Postdoctoral scholar Betty Lin accepted an offer for a child clinical tenure-track assistant professor position at SUNY Albany! Congratulations, Betty!
2/2018 : Liz Conradt receives the World Association for Infant Mental Health New Investigator Award. Congratulations, Liz!
2/2018 Luciana Salmi’s honors thesis, “Examining the Combined Effects of Social Support and Maternal Prenatal Mood on Newborn Neurobehavior”, has been accepted to the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association meeting in Denver, Colorado. Luciana also received travel grants from Psi Chi and the Office for Undergraduate Research to present her findings. Congratulations, Luciana!
12/2017 Marilynn Santana receives the prestigious Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) award for a research project to be completed under the mentorship of Dr. Bruce Ellis. Congratulations, Marilynn!
10/21/2017 Dr. Conradt speaks at a conference honoring Dr. T. Berry Brazelton¹s legacy at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She had the pleasure of meeting one of her idols, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton!
9/2017 Luciana Salmi receives the Osher re-entry scholarship from the University of Utah. Congratulations, Luciana!
9/2017 Luciana Salmi received the “Francis Family Foundation Undergraduate Research Opportunities” scholarship for her project, entitled Does The Effect Of Prenatal Anxiety On Newborn Behavior Depend On Maternal Social Support?. Congratulations, Luciana!
9/2017 Brendan Ostlund receives the Society for Research in Child Development Dissertation Funding Award. Congratulations, Brendan!
8/2017 Luciana Salmi and Nicolle Eldredge receive the prestigious Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) award for their respective research projects. Congrats, Luciana and Nicolle!
8/2017 Samantha Llewellyn receives the Undergraduate Psychology Service Internship (UPSI) award for her internship placement at Utah Community Action. Congrats Sam!
7/2017 Elisabeth Conradt receives the Kucharski Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology. This award recognizes a promising young investigator in the field of Developmental Psychobiology.
4/17/2017 Dr. Conradt receives the Society for Research in Child Development Early Career Research Contributions Award!
5/19/2016 Brendan Ostlund receives funding to collect pilot data for his NRSA proposal from the Consortium for Families and Health Research (C-FAHR) at the University of Utah!
4/21/2016 Ashma Shrestha has been awarded a Ronald E. McNair Scholarship to continue her research in the CAN Lab for the next 2 years. Congratulations, Ashma!
3/30/2016 Yanping Jiang receives the 2016 Society for Research on Adolescence International Young Scholars Program Award provided by the Jacobs Foundation to fund her travel and participation at the 2016 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence in Baltimore, Maryland!
3/30/2016 Brendan Ostlund receives the Clayton Award for Excellence in Graduate Research from the University of Utah. The funds will be used to support his training in infant EEG with Martha Ann Bell and for pilot data for his F31 NRSA proposal!
3/28/2016 Nicolle Eldredge receives a $5000 Psychology Department Tuition Waiver Scholarship.
2/13/2016 Zero to three describing Dr. Conradt’s research on the buffering effect of maternal sensitivity on infant epigenetic outcomes. Learn more.
1/10/2016 Abby Bossart has been named a Student Innovator at the University of Utah! She is recognized for her outstanding academic progress and her commitment to working with refugee women. Congratulations, Abby! More information here.
12/19/2015 Liz Conradt received the Association for Psychological Science “Rising Star” award. The rising star designation “recognizes outstanding psychological scientists in the earliest stages of their research career whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.” More information can be found here.
12/1/2015 Liz Conradt received the Victoria S. Levin Grant for Early Career Success in Young Children’s Mental Health Research. The aim of the award is to “heighten the chances of early success in achieving federal funding for developmentally-informed research that addresses the early foundations of children’s mental health and well-being.” More information about the award can be found here.