Defining Legacy: A study of Pediatric Patients, Parents, and Providers

Sophie attended Vanderbilt for both her undergraduate and masters degree and recently received her M.Ed. In Applied Child Studies. She completed her internship at Tulane Lakeside Hospital in August 2018. Sophie has a passion for research in the field of child life and spent much of her time in school and beyond working on research in the area of legacy building interventions at the end life

Jessika Boles, PhD, CCLS is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, and a Certified Child Life Specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies from Rhodes College, a Master's degree in Applied Child Studies from Vanderbilt University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology with a graduate certificate in Qualitative Research from the University of Memphis. She has been a practicing child life specialist for fourteen years, the first 8 of which were spent in pediatric and adolescent oncology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with the following years dedicated to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Dr. Boles is known for her research on the concept of legacy as it is perceived by various stakeholders and translated into clinical practices with children and families. Additionally, as the leader of the CHILL (Children's Healthcare, Illness, Legacy, and Loss) lab at Vanderbilt University, her research brings together multidisciplinary collaborators and student researchers to study the psychosocial needs and experiences of children and families in multiple contexts: pediatric critical care, medical complexity, developmental disabilities, adverse childhood experiences, and grief and bereavement. She has held multiple posts in the Association of Child Life Professionals, and currently serves as Lead Fellow for the Association of Child Life Professionals and as a voting member of the Institutional Review Board at Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. In her spare time, she enjoys punk rock, her family's home and menagerie of pets in Montana, and spending time with her children and husband.

Kristen Brady is a Certified Child Life Specialist working in the Outpatient Clinics at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Child Development from Vanderbilt University in 2016 and her Master's of Education in Child Studies from Vanderbilt University in 2018. Her research interests include legacy-building in hospital settings and young children's ability to learn social emotional skills through technology.