Kasie Josi, M.S.W., is a Project Coordinator for the Administrative Core of the CPO. In this role, she coordinates the Community Professional Advisory Board (CPAB) and the Data Collective project. Kasie earned her Master of Social Work degree in 2013 and has been working in research since with a focus on substance use treatment and eating disorder prevention and treatment.

Ashley Esparza Nash was previously employed as the Training Manager of Calinc Training, a Bay Area based environmental, safety and hazardous material training company. She then transitioned to the City of Suisun City providing support to the City Manager and Mayors office. Ashley began her career at the University of Oregon December, 2020 and enjoys her position as Assistant Project Coordinator for the Radx-Up LatinX and The Center on Parenting and Opioids grants.

Alex Wagnon, B.S. is Director of Research Implementation in the Fisher Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Lab at the University of Oregon. His role is to oversee the successful execution of Dr. Fisher’s research studies, including the Otter Study (CPO Research Project 1). To do so, he works directly with research investigators, project coordinators, data managers, and other research staff with the goal of increasing the efficiency and impact of the research being conducted. Alex began working in the SNAP Lab as an undergraduate research assistant and earned his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 2014.

Allison Kunerth, M.S., PSM is the Data Manager for the Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Laboratory. Her primary responsibilities include the management and processing of data across the lab, as well as developing and maintaining data management systems. She also collaborates on the analysis for a number of projects, utilizing her background in public health and quantitative methods. She has long been involved in research across a number of fields, and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Public Health Studies, focused on Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness, at Saint Louis University. She received her PSM in Microbiology from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2014, and her M.S. in Biosecurity and Disaster Preparedness from Saint Louis University in 2013. Allison graduated from the UO with her BS in General Science in 2010 and is a lifelong Duck fan!

Kyndal Yada, M.Ed. is Co-Director of Implementation in the Fisher Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Laboratory at the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. In this role, she collaborates with community organizations to develop and adapt intervention and evaluation plans, and works with relevant intervention, research, and administrative staff to coordinate intervention activities. Kyndal has experience implementing evidence-based programs with parents and other caregivers of young children, including Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND), Kids in Transition to School, and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care. She also provides training and support to FIND trainers, coaches, and video editors. She received her master’s degree in Prevention Science at the University of Oregon in 2017.

Llewellyn Fernandes, M.S., is a data science specialist working on data collection, harmonization, and storage for the CPO. He has a Bachelor’s in information technology, experience in software and web development, and a Master’s degree in data analytics. Llewellyn aims to merge his experiences with software development and database administration with research data, while working on the harmonization of CPO data.

Megan Lipsett, M.A., is the science communication graduate employee for the CPO. Through a biopsychosocial approach to social and health psychology, her research focuses on examining the psychosocial and neurobiological mechanisms related to goal-directed behaviors and long-term health outcomes.

Olivia Doyle, B.A., is a graduate student working on Project 3 under Principal Investigator, Dr. Kristen Mackiewicz Seghete. Her research interests include, executive functioning in typical and atypical children, DTI imaging and gender differences in ASD. 

Olivia Doyle is a graduate student in OHSU’s Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program and the lead on a pilot project investigating an adaptive virtual mindfulness intervention with social support for pregnant and early postpartum people with a history of substance use. Olivia’s research interests include intergenerational transmission of psychopathology and perinatal intervention..

Shannon Peake, Ph.D. is Co-Director of Implementation at the Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Laboratory at the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oregon. Dr. Peake is also an Early Childhood Support Coach for the Family Advice and Support Text/Telephone program. His research examines the combined influence of social factors and early experiences on brain and behavior development in children and adolescents. Results from that research informs the development of evidence-based programs to support parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators. Current research projects include randomized trials and rapid-cycle testing of the FIND (Filming Interaction to Nurture Development) video coaching program for parents and other caregivers of children in challenging contexts, including economic uncertainty, homelessness, and substance/mental health issues. Studies of program implementation are underway in Oregon (Head Start families), Washington (center- and home-based child care), New York (homeless shelters), Texas (pediatric primary care serving low-income Latinx families), and Victoria Australia (low-income community services families with or without child protective services involvement). He received his Ph. D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Oregon.

Simone Mendes
University of Oregon

Simone Mendes is a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Oregon and is the Early Career member on the CPO Steering Committee. Simone is a member of the Science and Treatment of Affect Regulation (START) Lab led by Dr. Maureen Zalewski studying intergenerational emotion dysregulation and parenting processes. Simone’s research interests center on exploring transdiagnostic mechanisms underlying mental health disorders and comorbid chronic health conditions such as chronic pain for women and girls.

Sven Halvorson, M.S., is a data science specialist working on data collection, harmonization, and storage for the CPO. His professional interests include R/python programming, data visualization, statistics, and teaching. He earned a M.S. in biostatistics from Oregon Health & Science University in 2015. Prior to joining PSI, he worked as an analyst in public education and clinical anesthesia research.

Xiao Cheng
University of Oregon

Xiao Cheng, M.S. is a certified editor for the Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) Program. Besides facilitating video editing for various FIND projects, she also works on developing data management systems with the Data Manager for the SNAP Lab. Xiao received her bachelor’s degree in Computer science from Beijing Forestry University in China in 2006 and her MS in Prevention Science from the University of Oregon in 2019. Xiao’s research interests include the effects of early childhood stress exposure, parenting skills, and the design and implementation of therapeutic interventions for high-risk families.