2024 Research Round Up - (2025 POP-UP)

Kathryn Cantrell, PhD, CCLS is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Human Development, Family Studies, and Counseling at Texas Woman’s University. Dr. Cantrell worked as a child life specialist for children and families with HIV at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and completed her doctorate in Counseling Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She trained as a pediatric psychologist working primarily with children with medical trauma. Using mixed methods, she researches illness disclosure, online patient communities, and racial disparities in pediatrics. Dr. Cantrell is a former executive editor of The Journal of Child Life and a current Research Fellow with the Association of Child Life Professionals.

Sherwood Burns-Nader, PhD, CCLS, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In this role, Dr. Burns-Nader coordinates the undergraduate and graduate child life programs, teaches child life coursework, and maintains a research agenda. She earned her PhD in Educational Psychology and her MS in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Child Life from the University of Alabama. Dr. Burns-Nader's research interests include examining the psychosocial issues affecting children and families in the healthcare setting, the benefits of child life interventions during healthcare procedures, the experiences of Certified Child Life Specialists, and the value of play in development and coping in children. She has publications on these topics in such journals as Burns, Pain Medicine, Children's Health Care, Clinical Pediatrics, and Journal of Child Health Care. In 2018 and 2022, Dr. Burns-Nader received the Association of Child Life Professionals Research Award. She is an active leader in the Association of Child Life Professionals and the Southeastern Association of Child Life Professionals, including serving as Chair to the Child Life Certification Commission and Chair to SEACLP. 

Maile Jones, MEd, CCLS, CIMI is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Health and Wellness from Tulane University and a master's degree in applied Child Studies from Vanderbilt University. Maile has published and presented across a wide range of topics including the importance of play in healthcare settings, the ways in which children’s anxiety and fear are influenced by medical play interventions, and the legacy perceptions of pediatric patients, parents/caregivers, and healthcare providers. She has also published research focused on the psychological, biological, and interpersonal processes in stress and coping among children and families facing healthcare adversities including Cancer, Huntington's Disease, and COVID-19. As a result, Maile’s research interests and clinical practice focus on understanding psychosocial issues that impact children and families in healthcare settings, examining best practices for legacy-building interventions, and exploring how adverse childhood experiences influence children’s appraisals in of medical stressors. In 2021, Maile was awarded the ACLP Student Research Award and co-recipient of the Professional Research Award. In 2023, Maile was co-recipient of the Professional Research 

Lauren is a the Director of Student and Professional services for Child Life on Call and serves as a Child and Family Data Collection Specialist at the Youth Development Institute at the University of Georgia.

Amanda Ginter, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Family Science. She teaches a number of theory and research-based courses. She is also the program director for the Family-Professional Collaboration graduate certificate.

Dr. Ginter began her research career studying how older mothers of breast cancer patients cope with their daughters’ illness. She has since led several research studies examining the impact of cancer survivorship on family relationships. Dr. Ginter uses qualitative and quantitative methodologies in her research.

From 2013 to 2014, Dr. Ginter was a faculty research associate with the University of Maryland Extension. In this role, she assisted the Health Insurance Literacy Initiative leaders and the University of Maryland Extension Director for Assessment and Evaluation in designing, collecting data, processing, and reporting for an evaluation program on Smart Choice Health Insurance.

Dr. Ginter is an active member in the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the National Council on Family Relations.

Lindsey worked as a Certified Child Life Specialist starting in 2009 with experience from a Level 1 Trauma Emergency Department and an outpatient setting working with children with developmental and behavioral diagnoses at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.  She completed her doctoral degree at University of Missouri-Columbia in Human Development and Family Science focusing on child life, trauma’s impact on child/family development, and psychosocial interventions effective in promoting growth and development post-trauma. Her training and certification through the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children provides her with a breadth of knowledge easily applied to children and disasters.  As a “Life is Good Playmaker” she radiates the spirit of optimism to those suffering from trauma.  Lindsey is a Co-Founder of CLDR.