EPIC-CARES Key Personnel
Project Director Dr. Lindsey Cohen oversee the EPIC-CARES project. He works closely with the other key personnel, partners, and trainees, provides on-site supervision, and has regular correspondence and meetings with the GSU, CHOA, EBHC, MAC, and VBI partners to monitor progress and adjust training. Dr. Cohen was the project director for the highly successful 3 prior and 1 current HRSA Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) projects. These 10 years have allowed Dr. Cohen to refine training and monitoring of students and to bring in key collaborators for the E{IC-CARES project. Dr. Cohen is the Chair of Psychology at GSU, on the medical staff at CHOA, a licensed psychologist, Distinguished University Professor, former Dean’s Faculty Associate for Faculty Development (charged with creating a peer faculty mentoring program for the college), past Director of Graduate Studies (9 years in post), past Associate Director of Clinical Psychology, past Director of the Psychology Clinic, and mentor for three student NIH NRSA F31 grants, multiple student fellowships, two NIH PRIDE mentees, 1 NIH K-award mentee, and several junior colleagues. In addition, Dr. Cohen was the past co-Chair of the GSU Graduate Assessment Committee, which is charged with evaluation of the over 100 graduate training programs at the university. In addition, Dr. Cohen’s role as primary investigator on large applied pediatric psychology research projects – most conducted at CHOA and Emory – has also allowed him to hone necessary abilities for the current interdisciplinary project. Lastly, Dr. Cohen’s prior and ongoing professional relationships with all of the key personnel and partners facilitates success of the current project.
Co-Director Dr. Erin Tully is an Associate Professor and co-Director of Graduate Studies for the GSU Psychology program. Dr. Tully served in a leadership role on the prior HRSA-funded GPE projects, and she and Dr. Cohen have worked together on grant-supported research projects. Dr. Tully’s research focuses on child mental health. Specifically, Dr. Tully leads a lab of researchers who study parent psychopathology and children’s empathy as risk and protective factors for psychopathology in children. On EPIC-CARES, Dr. Tully works closely with Dr. Cohen in overseeing the project, and Dr. Tully meets regularly with Drs. McKee and Swartout in their roles.
Experiential Site Coordinator Dr. Laura McKee is an Associate Professor and Practicum Coordinator for the GSU Clinical Psychology program. Dr. McKee has collaborated on child mental health focused research projects with Drs. Cohen and Tully. Dr. McKee’s research program focuses on child internalizing disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety) in at-risk and disadvantaged children and adolescents. Her studies typically involve parents, teachers, and other members of children’s communities. On EPIC-CARES, Dr. McKee oversees trainees’ experiential training, which involves working closely with sites and students to optimize matching of clinical needs and training goals. Dr. McKee maintains contact with all experiential training site supervisors and administrators, and she meets with Drs. Cohen and Tully regularly about EPIC-CARES.
Project Evaluation Coordinator Dr. Kevin Swartout is an Associate Professor and co-Director of Graduate Studies. In his research, Dr. Swartout uses a range of advanced statistical approaches, and he has expertise in mixed-methods assessments. Thus, he is well-equipped to oversee all assessment of training process and outcome goals as well as regular HRSA-determined indices of project progress. Dr. Swartout and Dr. Cohen have successfully collaborated on other large grant-funded projects, and Dr. Swartout served as project evaluation coordinator for Dr. Cohen’s prior HRSA GPE projects. Dr. Swartout meets regularly with Drs. Cohen and Tully around performance evaluation and how to modify training based on process and outcome indices.
EPIC-CARES Consultant Dr. Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD, ABPP is a Professor, Vice Chair for Faculty Development, and Chief Psychologist at Emory University School of Medicine; and she is the Past-President of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Kaslow has served as the Chair of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). Lastly, Dr. Kaslow has a long history of grant-funded research in psychological treatment of disadvantaged pediatric populations. She has conducted research on culturally sensitive psychosocial services. Dr. Kaslow is extremely well-qualified to serve as a consultant on all aspects of this project, and she proves especially helpful in determining critical education and training content and design to optimize preparing trainees for careers in providing services to disadvantaged youth populations. Dr. Kaslow has served as a key consultant on the prior 3 successful HRSA GPE projects directed by Dr. Cohen.
EPIC-CARES Consultant Nathan Call, PhD, BCBA-D, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, the Clinical Director of the Marcus Autism Center, and the Interim Director of Behavioral/Mental Health at CHOA. His clinical and research experience and expertise focus on the assessment and treatment of severe behavior disorders in children and adolescents. Dr. Call has served as principal investigator on several federally funded randomized clinical trials. As the Interim Director of CHOA’s Behavioral/Mental Health initiative, Dr. Call is committed to working with Drs. Cohen and Tully and other EPIC-CARES personnel on collaborations to provide mental health services to children and adolescents in Georgia. In addition, Dr. Call facilitates integration of EPIC-CARES with the CHOA Behavioral/Mental Health initiative as it grows.