The Team

Catherine Taylor, PhD, LCSW, MPH, is a Professor with dual experience and training in social work and public health, with a foundation in biological sciences. She completed her MSW/MPH at Boston University and then trained at the UCLA School of Public Health in community health sciences, epidemiology, and media studies. She went on to be a post-doctoral scholar at Columbia University School of Social Work, focused on the development and assessment of preventive interventions to prevent child abuse. She then joined Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine in New Orleans (2005-2020) as faculty, where she became the Founding Director of their Violence Prevention Institute and Pincus Violence Prevention Scholarship program and developed their first course on “violence as a public health problem.”

Dr. Taylor joined Boston College in 2020 and directs the Child and Behavioral Health Research Innovations (CABHRI) lab, which conducts and translates research to enhance the social and behavioral health of children and families. The lab’s work emphasizes preventive interventions and dissemination strategies to improve overall well-being and disrupt intergenerational cycles of childhood trauma, violence, and abuse. 

Cathy Taylor Google Scholar

Rong Bai, PhD, MSW (she/her), is a current affiliate and former post-doc, where she primarily focuses on manuscript development, data management, and analysis. Her research centers on examining the social determinants of child maltreatment and promoting child and family well-being. A key focus of her work is the intersection of housing instability and child welfare involvement. Within this broader agenda, her research program encompasses three core areas: 1) Investigating the pathways linking housing instability and child welfare system involvement; 2) Identifying best practices that promote family reunification and highlighting intervention points for families facing housing instability and child welfare contact; 3) Developing prevention strategies to disrupt the intergenerational cycle of child welfare involvement. In addition to her role in the CABHRI Lab, Dr. Bai is an Assistant Professor at the East Carolina University School of Social Work. Her recent work has been supported by the William T. Grant Foundation and the Society for Research in Child Development. She earned both her PhD and MSW in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University.

Bai R, Fleckman JM, Ruiz R, Leblanc S, Gilbert H, and Taylor CA. (2023). Evaluation of a Medical Center Staff Bystander Intervention Training for No-Hit-Zones: Innovative Strategy to Change Social Norms Regarding Physical Punishment. Research in Human Development (Special Issue: “Violence Prevention from Infancy to Young Adulthood”) 1–15. 

Rong Bai Google Scholar

Sophia Eisenberg, MAT, MSW (she/her) is a doctoral student at BCSSW. As a member of CABHRI, she has contributed to research projects through leadership in data management and analysis, manuscript development, RA supervision, and grant writing. Sophia’s research is informed by her experience as a high school special education teacher in Chicago and her policy work in the City of Chicago’s Mayor’s Office. Her interests include: 1) developmental impacts of early adversity, 2) youth violence prevention with a focus on youth with disabilities/special education services, 3) primary prevention of child abuse, 4) ecological determinants of parenting, and 5) the intersection of the built environment and violence. With training and mentorship from CABHRI, Sophia aims to become a tenure-track intervention researcher. Sophia holds a BA in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Michigan, a Master's in Teaching from the Relay Graduate School of Education, and an A.M. (MSW) from the University of Chicago.  

Fleckman JM, Ford J, Eisenberg S, Taylor CA, Kondo M, Morrison CN, Branas CC, Drury SS, Theall KP. (2025). From Neighborhood to Household: Connections Between Neighborhood Vacant and Abandoned Property and Family Violence. J Urban Health. Feb;102(1):72-81.

Elizabeth Inman (she/her) is a Senior Research Associate. Her research focuses on the intersections of violence, stigma, and health behaviors, with an emphasis on using longitudinal methods to understand how these factors fluctuate over time. Previously, Dr. Inman worked as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University, where she led analyses and writing for an R01 study on violence as a driver of HIV transmission among adolescent South African boys. Dr. Inman earned her PhD in Social Health Psychology from Stony Brook University and her BA in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross.

Inman, E. M., & London, B. (2021). Self-silencing Mediates the Relationship Between Rejection Sensitivity and Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(13-14), NP12475-NP12494.

Inman, E.M., Nkala-Dlamini, B., Violari, A. et al. (2024). HIV Stigma, Health, and Violence: A Longitudinal Study among Adolescent Boys with HIV in Soweto, South Africa. AIDS Behav28, 3197–3204.

Elizabeth Inman Google Scholar

Annika Smith is an undergraduate student at Boston College pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a concentration in Clinical Psychology and a minor in Public Health and the Common Good. Her academic and professional interests center on child and adolescent mental health, developmental psychology, and the intersection of clinical psychology and neuroscience. Annika has experience in both clinical and research settings, including a clinical internship at NFI Massachusetts, where she supported youth and families through therapy, support groups, and mentoring services. She is excited to contribute to the lab’s work on child and behavioral health and deepen her research experience as she prepares to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology. Outside of the lab, Annika enjoys reading, playing the piano, and spending time outdoors.

Eva Wall is a Boston College undergraduate studying Biology and Global Public Health in the Class of 2026. She is an aspiring pediatrician with a passion for child health research. Wall joined the lab as a Research Assistant in May 2024 and has learned so much about child abuse and violence prevention. Outside of school, she enjoys dancing, yoga, and spending time with her family and friends. 

Julia Fleckman is a social scientist and mixed methods researcher that primarily focuses her work on the prevention of violence. Her current research interests include the evaluation of structural and community-level mechanisms for the prevention of gun violence, childhood adversity, and intimate partner violence. Much of her work contributes to how such mechanisms can be influenced to reduce risk for violence and promote health equity. Julia works collaboratively with local and national community-based groups and advocacy organizations. She also serves as the Associate Director for the Tulane University Violence Prevention Institute and the Senior Director for the Tulane Gun Violence Policy Lab. Prior to joining as faculty, Julia completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the support of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

Fleckman JM, Taylor CA, Gershoff L, Finklehor D, Holden G, and Klika B. (2023). Levels of support for legislative bans to end physical punishment in schools and homes in a national sample. Public health, 222, 60-65.

Fleckman, JM Taylor, CA, Theall, KP, Andrinopoulous, K. (2019). The Association between Perceived Injunctive Norms toward Corporal Punishment, Parenting Support, and Risk for Child Physical Abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect. 88, 246-255.

Julia Fleckman Google Scholar

Maria Kinsey is a recently graduated Neuroscience doctor of the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering. She is originally from Shreveport, LA but has traveled to Indiana, Tennessee, and as far as Sierra Leone in the course of her work. She completed her undergraduate studies with a BS in Neuroscience as well as a double minor in Chemistry and English from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. She has a special interest in Developmental Neuroscience and Immunology, which drew her to Dr. Stacy Drury’s lab. In her graduate and undergraduate training, she has become a member of the Psi Chi Psychology, Tri Beta Biology, Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemistry, and Nu Rho Psi Neuroscience Honors Societies. In her time at Tulane University, she has been a member of the Graduate Studies Student Association as a representative of the Tulane Brain Institute. In her free time, she enjoys writing, cooking, singing and playing bass with her friends, and walking her two dogs Ozzy and Ellie. Maria plans to pursue working with autonomic data and child social development in the clinical setting.

Kinsey, M., Shankar, A., Hastings, W. J., Lichtveld, M., Martin, N., Batista, B. M., Gokoel, A., Sairras, S., McLester-Davis, L. W. Y., Drury, S., & Zijlmans, W. (2024). The utility of the child development review in Suriname: Validating a neurodevelopmental screener for use in a low- to middle- income Country. Global Pediatrics, 9, 100225. 

Stacie LeBlanc, JD, MEd, is CEO and co-founder of The UP Institute, a think tank for upstream child abuse solutions, and executive director of UP for Champions, a nonprofit supporting child maltreatment professionals. A former child abuse prosecutor, she founded Child Advocacy Centers in Louisiana, led the Felony Child Abuse Division, and launched a Family Violence Program. Stacie has held leadership roles on state and national boards, including Immediate Past-President of APSAC and Chair of the National No Hit Zone Committee, which promotes a universal policy establishing zero tolerance for hitting children in family-centered settings such as healthcare facilities. She founded the New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center and Audrey Hepburn CARE Center, serving over 1,500 children annually. At Tulane University, she launched the Child Advocacy Studies Training (CAST) Program in 2017. Honored with numerous awards—including the FBI Director’s Award and APA's Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy—Stacie holds a JD from Loyola University New Orleans and an MEd in Early Childhood Development from the University of New Orleans.

Bai R, Fleckman JM, Ruiz R, Leblanc S, Gilbert H, and Taylor CA. (2023). Evaluation of a Medical Center Staff Bystander Intervention Training for No-Hit-Zones: Innovative Strategy to Change Social Norms Regarding Physical Punishment. Research in Human Development (Special Issue: “Violence Prevention from Infancy to Young Adulthood”) 1–15.

No Hit Zone Website

Melissa McTernan holds a Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining the Research Services team at Boston College, she was an Assistant Professor at California State University in Sacramento. Melissa's primary research interests are in the area of applied statistics for the social and behavioral sciences. Some areas in which Melissa has expertise are methods for zero-inflated and longitudinal data, and random-effect models. She has experience with R, SAS, SPSS, Mplus, as well as Markdown and LaTeX. Melissa collaborates with the CABHRI lab by providing statistical expertise and guidance in proposal development and manuscript preparation.

Google Scholar

Seth Scholer is a Professor of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University. His research has focused on the prevention of child abuse and improving population health. He has developed and successfully implemented a brief, clinic-based assessment tool (Quick Parenting Assessment (QPA)) and an intervention (Play Nicely) to support parents in their use of healthy discipline strategies. Seth's research has implications for reducing rates of many mental and physical health problems associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). In addition, he serves on national advocacy boards and contributes to the development of child health policy in this area.

Fleckman, J. M., Scholer, S. J., Branco, N., & Taylor, C. A. (2021). Educating Parents about Corporal Punishment and Effective Discipline: Pediatricians’ Preparedness, Motivation, and Barriers. Academic Pediatrics. 

Taylor CA, Fleckman, JM, Scholer, SJ, and Branco. N. (2018). U.S. Pediatricians’ Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceived Injunctive Norms about Spanking. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Jun 11.

Play Nicely

Quick Parenting Assessment

Seth Scholer PubMed

Abby Sullivan earned her MS in Neuroscience from Tulane University in 2021. During her time there, she acted as a research coordinator for a study exploring the long-term effects of two brief parenting interventions. Since then, she has assisted the CABHRI lab with examining the effects of these brief parenting interventions on mothers and children's RSA data during dyadic interaction tasks.

After graduation, Abby first worked as a research assistant at the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center where she worked on a study assessing the efficacy of a novel executive working memory training for adolescents with ADHD. She then went on to serve as the lab manager for the Translational Emotion and Memory lab at Tufts University, where she primarily worked on a collaborative study with the Phelps lab at Harvard University investigating how pairing memory reactivation with cognitive restructuring alters neural representations of social anxiety memories and reduces negative memory-related feelings. Currently, Abby is pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Clark University.

Cailin Carleo earned her B.S. in Social Work from the University of New Hampshire in 2022 and her MSW with a certificate in Neuroscience and Social Work from BCSSW in 2023. She currently works as an inpatient clinical social worker on the detox unit at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA.

Prior to working as an RA for the CABHRI lab, Cailin mainly worked with adult populations, but working with CABHRI broadened her perspective by learning about the world of research, specifically about child abuse prevention, and by observing how research findings translate to clinical practice. Through the collaborative and supportive environment of the CABHRI lab, she helped develop a manuscript and learned to analyze existing literature for use in both grant proposals and research projects.

Her experiences as an RA at CABHRI Lab continues to shape her clinical practice by solidifying her personal and professional interest in research, and understanding the value of utilizing evidence-based practices in her work!

Alice is a proud Boston College alum (Class of 2023), where she earned a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Applied Psychology. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) at Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, with plans to specialize in internal medicine or pediatrics. Her academic interests include child development, early intervention, and reducing health disparities in underserved pediatric communities. She worked with the lab in Summer 2025 and contributed to research focused on child abuse prevention and family health. She is especially interested in using her medical training to bridge clinical care and research, with the goal of improving health outcomes for children. Outside of school, she enjoys playing instruments, drawing, running, and spending quality time with her family.

Rosa Vitti is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and earned her B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. After completing her degree, she worked as an elementary school teacher before deciding to further her education. She went on to receive her MSW from BCSSW, with a concentration in children, youth, and families.

Currently, Rosa works as an adolescent and family therapist at Walden Behavioral Care, where she utilizes family-based treatment to help adolescents recover from eating disorders.

As a member of CABHRI, she enjoyed getting to work with a collaborative and supportive team. One of her favorite parts of working with this lab was getting to immerse herself in relevant research and literature in the field she now works in. As an adolescent and family therapist, having this evidence-based groundwork for best parenting practices helps her feel confident in the quality of care she can provide.