YCSC Connections
Featuring updates, news you can use, events, and more from the Yale Child Study Center.
Chair's Message
To say that the past month has been busy would be an understatement – and while there has been a great deal of news to process in our country and world, the impactful work underway here at the center has continued steadily.
Indeed, I am, as ever, grateful for the dedication and steadfast work in our department to improve the lives of children and families. Our faculty, staff, and trainees remain focused on this mission, working together in important and innovative ways.
Some highlights of and about this work that has been underway in the new calendar year are included below.
Linda Mayes, MD
Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology; Chair
Yale Child Study Center
Departmental News & Updates
Introducing new YCSC community members: Meet Sophie Barnes, Hien Tran, & Da-eun Ellen Lee
The YCSC welcomes and introduces new community members on an on-going basis. This month, meet postdoctoral associate Sophie Barnes, undergraduate communications assistant Hien Tran, and postdoctoral associate Da-eun Ellen Lee.
2024-2025 YCSC postdoctoral scholar travel awardees announced
The results of the second round of Yale Child Study Center postdoctoral scholar travel awards were announced on January 10, 2025, with kudos to award recipients Rebecca Etkin, Stella Jackman-Ryan, and Brianna Cairney.
Someone Cares Closet: Personal care product donation drive hosted by local childcare center
A donation drive for Someone Cares Closet (SCC) is underway this winter, hosted by Phyllis Bodel Childcare Center in New Haven. SCC is a project that grew out of a collaboration between the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) and Claire’s Corner Copia in New Haven, Connecticut in 2022, providing personal care and household cleaning products for families in need who receive services through the YCSC Outpatient Clinic.
Study Led by Gee Named a 2024 Leading Research Achievement by BBRF
A study led by Dylan Gee, PhD, associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale University, has been named a '2024 Leading Research Achievement' by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF).
Yale Child Study Center Job & Trainee Opportunities
View the latest opportunities at the Yale Child Study Center for talented individuals seeking to improve the lives of children and families through research, service, training, and more.
Upcoming Special Events
- Feb 202528Friday
Yale Child Study Center Westport Open House
For area professionals
- May 202510Saturday
YCSC-CSPP Grand Rounds Special Lecture: Grieving the Loss of Relentless Hope and Evolving to a Place of Serene Acceptance
Yale Child Study Center-Connecticut Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology Annual Lecture
Speaker: Martha Stark, MD
- Jun 202523Monday
Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) Commencement 2025
Save the date!
Speakers: Speakers to be announced.
News You Can Use
Walking the Leadership Walk in Academic Medicine
In the latest Yale Child Study Center “On Leadership” blog post and newsletter column, Daryn David, PhD, PCC, reflects on a recent Grand Rounds talk, presented by Chyrell Bellamy, PhD, and Maria Restrepo-Toro, MSN, BSN, representing the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRCH), within the Department of Psychiatry.
On Humility
In this inaugural post for a new blog developed by the Family-Based Recovery (FBR) Model Development and Operations team at the Yale Child Study Center, Assistant Clinical Professor Amy Myers shares some insights related to the importance of humility in the work of the FBR program.
Yale’s Westport Center Helps Ease Anxiety, ADHD And Young Athlete Concerns
A local Westport, Connecticut blogger interviewed three of the town's newest clinicians, Drs. Tamique Ridgard Peters, Jackie Britt-Friedman and Ayotunde Ayobello, who are providing services for children and families at the new Yale Child Study Center Westport office.
Source: 06880How can educators help students navigate emotion-laden information on digital media?
To promote adaptive repetitive thinking, educators can address unpleasant emotions that students may experience with content on digital media.
Source: eSchool NewsHow Reading and Storytelling Can Improve a Child’s Health
A Yale expert describes the many ways that a child’s intellectual and emotional development —and physical health—benefit from early literacy.
How To Improve Your Emotional Intelligence, According To Therapists
Boosting emotional intelligence can change your life for the better. Here are 10 strategies you can start to use today.
Source: Women's HealthLead Exposure in Childhood: What Families Need to Know
In this article for Psychology Today, Assistant Professor Eunice Yuen and Clinical Fellow Richard Zhang address the fact that childhood lead exposure is not quite yet a problem of the past -- and there is much that caregivers can do to reduce the risks. She notes that the earlier the intervention, the greater one’s lifetime health and cognition.
Source: Psychology Today
Upcoming Grand Rounds
YCSC Grand Rounds sessions are typically presented in person in the Cohen Auditorium at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, from September through June, with a live stream available via Zoom.
- Feb 202518Tuesday
YCSC Virtual Compassionate Care Rounds: Angels and Visions—Tragedy and Hope in a Specialized Children’s Hospital
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speakers: Oscar Gerdner, MD, Linda Drozdowicz, MD, Susan Quinn, FNP-BC, Marykate Filos, LMSW, Renee Root, PhD
- Feb 202525Tuesday
YCSC Annual Cohen Lecture: The effects of early psychosocial deprivation on brain and behavioral development—The first two decades of research from Bucharest Early Intervention Project
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Charles A. Nelson III, PhD
- Mar 20254Tuesday
YCSC Grand Rounds: High Conflict Family Dynamics
Yale Child Study Center
Speaker: Chris Mulchay, MA, MS, PhD, ABPP (Forensic)
- Mar 202511Tuesday
YCSC Viola Bernard Lecture: A Framework for Indigenous Health
Yale Child Study Center Grand Rounds
Speaker: Donald Warne, MD, MPH
- Mar 202518Tuesday
YCSC Grand Rounds: Lifespan Perspectives on Legacies of Stress
Yale Child Study Center
Speaker: Brian Dias, PhD
In the Media
“06880” Podcast: Ayotunde Ayobello
YCSC Assistant Professor Ayotunde Ayobello joined the “06880” podcast at the Westport Library to talk about his background in athletics, the issues he sees in young athletes, his work with parents as well as athletes, and trends in youth sports.
Source: 0688030 Dec 2024How to keep your child safe on social media
YCSC Associate Professor Yann Poncin joined Good Morning Connecticut to address how to keep children safe on social media in the new year.
Source: WTNH Channel 817 Jan 2025Reading and storytelling can improve children’s health, new Yale research shows
YCSC Chair Linda Mayes is quoted in this article focused on how learning to read is essential to a child’s intellectual development.
Source: The Sector17 Jan 2025Better Health: Disorder of Gut Brain Interaction
YCSC Assistant Professor Maggie Stoeckel, PhD was interviewed by NBC to discuss disorder of gut brain interaction and the work of the YCSC GI Clinic.
Source: NBC Connecticut23 Jan 2025Research sees ‘significant’ increase in cancer in younger adults
Dr. Nancy Borstelmann, co-director of the Early Onset Cancer Program at Yale Cancer Center, joined WTNH's Good Morning Connecticut at 9 a.m. to discuss what we’re learning about early onset cancer and the mental and social challenges of a cancer diagnosis at a young age.
Source: WTNH News 824 Jan 2025Unplugged: How digital detoxes affect student productivity and well-being
YCSC Associate Professor Yann Poncin is quoted in this Yale Daily News article on the impact of digital detoxes on mental health, focus, and relationships.
Source: Yale Daily News28 Jan 2025Does my child have an anxiety disorder? Here are the signs parents should look out for
YCSC Professor Wendy Silverman is quoted in this CNN Health article addressing normal fears experienced by children about things that may never happen, and when professional help may be needed if they obsess on those fears or don't grow out of them.
Source: CNN Health5 Feb 2025