Biography
Maria’s research uses a prevention science framework to identify malleable intervention targets and tailor evidence-based interventions to prevent child maltreatment, justice involvement, and substance use. This work was shaped by her background working as a licensed mental health clinician in a variety of community based and educational settings. As a former Doris Duke Fellow and founding and current member of the Child Well-Being Research Network, she is committed to conducting actionable research to affect change in policy and practice and improve the lives of youth and families.
As an applied research methodologist, Maria has expertise in aggregate and individual participant data meta-analyses in prevention science. She is dedicated to developing open source methods that can improve the responsivity of research to applied policy and practice contexts.
Download my CV .
- Family Intervention
- Prevention Science
- Positive Criminology
- Research Synthesis
PhD in Prevention Science, 2020
University of Oregon
MA in Couples and Family Therapy, 2013
Bethel University
BA in Religion, 2009
Bethel University
Experience
In my role as a Research Assistant Professor at the Prevention Science Intitute, I run two federally-funded research studies on which I serve as PI/MPI
- Exploring Pathways to Desistance and Adjustment in Adulthood Among Juvenile Justice-Involved Females
- Opportunities to interrupt cycles of substance use: An intergenerational study of mothers affected by prior justice-system involvement and their children.
I am also a Research Assistant Professor with the HEDCO Institute for Evidence-Based Educational Practice
In this role, I am involved in every aspect of the research synthesis work conducted at the HEDCO Institute, from working with the HEDCO team, stakeholders, and the Advisory Board to identify topics, to coding studies, analyzing data, and writing and sharing out results.
Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow (R324B180001) where I received advanced training in intervention science, advanced research methods, and implementation science
Research Associate where I led a study funded through the National Institute of Justice (2020-JX-FX-0003)
