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 where she coordinates the undergraduate and graduate child life programs. Sherwood’s research interests include examining the psychosocial issues affecting children and families in the healthcare setting, the benefits of child life interventions, the experiences of child life specialists and emerging professionals, and the value of play in development and coping. Sherwood has served as an Association of Child Life Professional’s Research Fellow since 2020, including as the Lead Fellow from 2023-2025.

Maile is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Children's Hospital Colorado in Colorado Springs, where she works in outpatient specialty clinics serving a variety of populations. Before relocating to Colorado, Maile worked as an acute care specialist and with the liver transplant population at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt after earning her master's degree at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include the concept of legacy and legacy oriented interventions in pediatric healthcare, and the effects of stress and early adversity on child development. A recipient of the ACLP Student and Professional Research Award in 2021, Maile is proud to serve as a member of the ACLP Research Fellows Committee, contributing to advancing child life research and practice.

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.