RECENT LAB ACTIVITIES
April 2016- Megan defends her thesis
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Congratulations to our very own Megan Schaefer, who successfully defended her masters thesis on April 6th! Megan focused on understanding the experiences, needs and challenges of undergraduate freshmen with ADHD recently transitioning to college, specifically looking at their adherence to medication. Our lab has really enjoyed conducting qualitative research similar to Megan's thesis in order to really understand the chronic illness experience.
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March 2016- Alabama Transition Conference
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Dr. Gray, Scott, and Megan attended the annual Alabama Transition conference in March. Instead of presenting posters this year, our lab decided to present a symposium focused on managing ADHD during the transition to adulthood. We shared lessons learned from our student participants across multiple studies and provided strategies for success tailored towards school professionals and parents in order to help their adolescents with ADHD manage their illness. Our talk was well received and it was great to see so many passionate supporters of transition related to ADHD at the conference.
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February 2016- STEP Study
The spring semester is in full swing! February was an exciting month for our lab as we made our first trip up to Cincinnati Children's in Ohio for our Self-Management Transition Enhancement Program (STEP). This program is specifically focused on transition from pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care to adult care. We want to thank all of our wonderful families and physicians who participated in our first stage of the program. It was great getting to hear about all of our patients' transition experiences thus far, and we look forward to providing continuous coaching in order to make this process as easy as possible. Even though we spent several hours standstill in a car due to a rock-slide on I-75 South, we couldn't have asked for a more rewarding opportunity to serve adolescents with IBD.
December 2015 - Celebrating end of 2015
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As the 2015 year comes to a close, we'd like to thank all of our research participants who have contributed to our knowledge base in adherence, transition to adult care, and quality of life in chronic illness. We've accomplished quite a bit this year and look forward to publishing our data and sharing our findings to make an impact on the lives of others. As a way of celebrating, the lab recently got together for a small holiday party. We had a white elephant book exchange and each one of us came home with a new book to read (or color!) for fun over the holidays.
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September 2015- Smartphone Application Study & Transitions Camp
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Our lab has been very busy with the start of the Fall Semester. We are currently conducting a new study which seeks to examine whether the utilization of smartphone applications can be used as an intervention to improve adherence in college students with ADHD. Our recruitment target for this study has been reached, and we are currently in the process of finishing the first assessments. We are looking forward to teaching the college students about this smart-phone application and hope that it becomes a helpful resource for all!
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July 2015 - Alana defends her dissertation
Congratulations to our very own Alana Resmini, who successfully defended her dissertation on July 15th! Alana recently began her internship at Children's Hospital of Colorado. We wish you the best of luck, Alana, and will miss you greatly. :-)
May 2015 - Congratulations to our graduating seniors!
Our lab would like to say thanks and farewell to our research assistants (Caroline, Gabby, & Mary Jane) who will graduate during the Spring ceremony. We wish them the best of luck in their future career and schooling aspirations. Gabby will be attending a Master's program at Western Carolina, while Mary Jane will be working as a research assistant for Dr. Monaghan at Children's National Medical Center. All of our undergraduate RA's have been a wonderful addition to our lab, and their past work is much appreciated! We will miss them next year!
April 2015 - This Is Research
Congratulations to Alana who presented her poster at the "This is Research Symposium" held here at Auburn University. Alana presented data on what affects perceived food allergy severity in children. Dr. Gray and Alana were also involved with a symposium talk given by fellow graduate student, Will Frye, on the role of weight-based teasing in adolescent African American body appreciation. Both the poster and talk were well received!
March 2015- Food Allergy Study and the Alabama Transitions Conference
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Thank you to the families who have participated in the Food Allergy Study. We welcome additional families to participate prior to March 15, 2015. Check out the "Food Allergy Study" tab for more information.
Congratulations to Megan and Scott who presented posters at the 25th annual Alabama Transition Conference. Megan presented data on changes in parental involvement as students with ADHD transition to college and Scott presented on barriers to medication adherence experienced by students with ADHD. We are continuing to learn interesting things about chronic illness management during the transition to college and these posters are just the beginning of a long line of research. Both posters were well received and it was great to see so many passionate supporters of transition at the conference! |
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February 2015- Internship Match Results
A huge congratulations to Alana Resmini, our 5th year graduate student in the lab, on her internship placement at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado. This is well deserved! We will surely miss her next year in the lab!
January 2015 - New projects underway
As we wrap up our ADHD management study and begin to analyze our data, we approach the new semester with energy and enthusiasm. Our lab is currently working an designing a number of projects including: 1) a study for parents of students with ADHD to better understand their needs and concerns regarding their child transitioning to college, 2) an adherence intervention study for students with ADHD, and 3) continuing to develop the Self-management Transition Enhancement Program. Stay tuned for more information.
November/December 2014 - Wrapping up
As the Fall semester comes to a close, we would like to thank our wonderful participants in the Auburn ADHD Management Study. Your commitment to helping us better understand the daily challenges you face managing ADHD on your own is admirable and we appreciate the role you've played in our research. We wish you the best of luck on your finals. Also, we'd like to say thanks and farewell to Ms. Sophie Roth. Sophie is graduating at the end of this semester. She has been a wonderful research assistant with us over the past year and we wish her luck in her future career aspirations. Thank you for all you have done. You will be missed!
October 2014 - Food allergy study underway
We recently launched a study examining quality of life in youth with food allergies. Little is understood about this understudied, but growing population. For additional information about this study, please click on "Food Allergy Study" in the navigation bar above.
September 2014 - Auburn ADHD Management Study Update & Marie W. Wooten Memorial 5K
Thanks to the work of our excellent team members and collaborators, we have reached our recruitment target for the Auburn University ADHD Management Study. This groundbreaking study is the first longitudinal assessment of adherence in adolescents with ADHD transitioning to independence. For more information about this study, please see the "Current Research Projects" page.
Scott, Dr. Gray, and Megan are pictured to the left. They participated in the Marie W. Wooten Memorial 5K run and 1K walk. Prior to Dean Wooten's death, she had planned to hold a 5K to raise money for scholarships. The race honors Marie W. Wooten's memory and helps the College of Science and Mathematics continue Dr. Wooten's vision for the future of the college. This activity was enjoyed by all, and our lab hopes to continue participating in the future years!
August 2014 - Welcome Megan & Scott
Please join us in welcoming Megan Schaefer and Scott Wagoner to the Adolescent & Yong Adult Health Promotion Research Laboratory. Megan and Scott are new graduate students in Auburn University's doctoral program in clinical psychology. They both bring with them great experience from their prior institutions (Miami University & University of Dayton) and will play a key role in our ongoing studies. For more information about Megan and Scott, please see the "Meet the Lab" page.
June & July 2014 - Recruitment for AU-FAMS now ongoing! Sign up today.
We are now recruiting incoming freshmen with ADD/ADHD for participation in AU-FAMS. Members of the study team will be available during the Tiger Tables Fair at each Camp War Eagle this summer. Look for us near the AU Medical Clinic & Student Pharmacy tables. We will be holding a sign to help you find us. If you, or your son or daughter qualifies for the study, please consider being a part of an important program that will help us better understand how to help incoming students with ADD/ADHD.
May 2014 - Preparing for AU-FAMS
As we approach the Summer semester, we are working hard to prepare for the "Auburn University Freshman ADHD Management Study (AU-FAMS)." AU-FAMS seeks to better understand the how students with ADHD manage their medical treatment and ADHD symptoms during the transition from living at home (and having parent support) to managing ADHD independently. By following 50 incoming freshmen with ADHD across their first semester, we will get a better understanding of what it is like to manage ADHD during this transitional period. Specifically, we want to know what makes it easier or harder to take ADHD medication so that we can develop a program to help future students better manage the transition to college. Our goal is maximize the academic, social, and psychological success of Auburn students and this study is an important step in helping us figure out how to do that. For more information about AU-FAMS, please click on the AU-FAMS tab in the toolbar above.
April 2014 - Starting up new research
April was a very busy time for the lab! We've been working hard on our IBD focus groups and recently began recruiting for Phase 1 of the Freshman Experience Study. This phase involves interviewing freshmen with ADHD to get a better understanding of their experiences managing ADHD on their own since transitioning from parent-supervised management to more independent care now that they live away from home as a college freshman. We are learning a lot about ADHD self-management in this study and are thankful to the Auburn freshmen we've met for sharing their stories. This month, we also had the opportunity to engage in professional development through participation in the 8th Annual Women's Leadership Conference (Dr. Gray and Alana pictured right). It was a great opportunity to learn about the issues facing women as they continue to strive towards equality in their careers, families, and lives.
March 2014 - Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference
Dr. Gray recently presented in Philadelphia at the 2014 Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference. Her talk, entitled "Assessing Transition Readiness in Adolescents and Young Adults with IBD: Progress toward meeting institutional benchmarks of readiness and future opportunities for improvement," was part of a larger transition symposium sponsored by the Adolescent & Young Adult Special Interest Group. A pdf of her talk can be found here.
It was great to hear about the exciting work being conducted at other institutions and meet the many individuals who have a passion for transition issues. Next year's conference will be in sunny San Diego. We hope to see you there!
It was great to hear about the exciting work being conducted at other institutions and meet the many individuals who have a passion for transition issues. Next year's conference will be in sunny San Diego. We hope to see you there!
March 2014 - New additions to the lab
We'd like to welcome two new undergraduate students, Madeline Hearn and Kyndal Hammock, who will be joining us on in the lab. Madeline and Kyndal will be contributing to the Self-Management Transition Enhancement Program and we are excited to have them on our team. For more information about Kyndal and Madeline, please see their bios in the "Meet the Lab" section of our website.
March 2014 - 24th Annual Alabama Transition Conference
We are very fortunate to have the Auburn Transition Leadership Institute (ALTI). This institute is dedicated to improving transition practices, programs, and policies that assist those with disabilities successfully move to adulthood. Whether it involves helping youth transition to post-secondary education, vocational training, or general independence, ATLI is truly a leader in the effort to improve outcomes for Alabama youth. Click here for more information about this amazing institute.
Every year, ATLI hosts a state-wide conference that brings together youth, families, educators, counselors, and legislators to discuss current issues in transition and strategies to help Alabama youth. Dr. Gray recently attended the 24th offering of this conference and gave a presentation on the medical aspects of transition. It was great to be surrounded by so many others with a passion for transition issues. We hope that participation in the Alabama Transition Conference becomes a regular activity in our lab.
Every year, ATLI hosts a state-wide conference that brings together youth, families, educators, counselors, and legislators to discuss current issues in transition and strategies to help Alabama youth. Dr. Gray recently attended the 24th offering of this conference and gave a presentation on the medical aspects of transition. It was great to be surrounded by so many others with a passion for transition issues. We hope that participation in the Alabama Transition Conference becomes a regular activity in our lab.
February 2014 - The calm before the storm, a.k.a. Gearing up for some research fun!
It's so peaceful sitting in the lab (pictured right) when things are quiet. This won't last for long! Our lab is busy working on Phase 1 of the STEP study, which involves transcribing focus groups from our recent work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Sophie, MaryJane, Gabby, and Caroline are doing a fantastic job on this project and we are learning so much from our families and clinicians.
We were also recently informed that Dr. Gray's intramural grant focused on medication adherence in adolescents with ADHD transitioning from adolescence to independence was also funded! This latter project is an interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Jan Kavookjian in Pharmacy and fellow Department of Psychology faculty Dr. Steven Shapiro. This project will be starting in late March/early April and will run through the end of next Fall semester. We will certainly be very busy over the next few months. Time really does fly when you are having fun!
We were also recently informed that Dr. Gray's intramural grant focused on medication adherence in adolescents with ADHD transitioning from adolescence to independence was also funded! This latter project is an interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Jan Kavookjian in Pharmacy and fellow Department of Psychology faculty Dr. Steven Shapiro. This project will be starting in late March/early April and will run through the end of next Fall semester. We will certainly be very busy over the next few months. Time really does fly when you are having fun!
January 2014 - Growing and growing...
As our research continues to grow, so does our need for talented students. We'd like to welcome the newest additions to the lab, Sophie Roth, Caroline Nevin, Gabby Weierbach, and MaryJane Simms. Sophie, Caroline, Gabby, and MaryJane will be joining the Adolescent & Young Adult Health Promotion Lab as undergraduate research assistants. They bring with them a strong passion for psychology and we look forward to their start in the lab this semester. For more information about our newest members, please see our "Meet the Lab" page.
December 2013 - CCFA Advances in IBD Care
Dr. Gray recently presented research examining transition readiness skills in adolescents and young adults with IBD. This research suggests that many patients on the verge of transferring to adult care are not meeting institutional benchmarks of transition readiness. Furthermore, there are critical gaps in self-management and self-advocacy present among adolescents that are in need of intervention prior to the transfer to adult care. A copy of her presentation can be found here.
November 2013 - Alabama Association of Higher Education Diversity Officers (ALAHEDO) 2nd Annual Comprehensive Diversity Conference
The lab presented posters at the ALAHEDO conference on 11/1/2013. ALAHEDO, which focuses on promoting awareness of policies and practices that affect diversity in higher education, sponsored a special poster session focused on diversity and health. Dr. Gray's poster, entitled "Cultural differences in complementary and alternative medicine use in pediatric cancer: Types and rates of use and disclosure to health professionals," focused on patterns of complementary and alternative medicine use across domestic and international pediatric cancer populations and discussed implications for cross-cultural communication. Alana's poster, entitled "Obesity, sleepiness, and physical activity in a rural sample of adolescent African-Americans" highlighted the relationship between weight and important lifestyle behaviors in a population at greater risk for obesity. Both posters were positively received by conference attendees and interesting discussions emerged regarding health disparities and the role of health professionals in promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors.