Miriam Landsman is Executive Director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Iowa. Dr. Landsman’s primary areas of research are family centered approaches to child welfare practice and the child welfare workforce.

Brad Richardson is Research Scientist/Engineer and Adjunct Associate Professor in The University of Iowa School of Social Work. As Research Director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, he also serves as co-Director of the Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation and is Coordinator of the DMC Resource Center and Minority Youth and Families Initiative.

Debbie Black is Office Manager at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice. Ms. Black has been at the Resource Center for more than 30 years and works on a wide range of projects, in addition to managing office staff and serving as fiscal manager for the Center.

Elisa Childs obtained her PhD in Social Work from the University of Georgia and her Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from Middle Tennessee State University. She works at the NRC’s Center for Evaluation and Research as an evaluator for CDC-funded public health programs focusing on health promotion and chronic disease prevention. Independent from the NRC, Elisa conducts research on expanding rural health care access and eliminating disparities related to social determinants of health, emphasizing medically underserved areas with high older adult populations. Before a career in research and evaluation, Elisa worked in the health care field as a hospice social worker and the Director of Social Services for one of the largest skilled nursing facilities in Southern California. Recognized for her potential to influence older adults’ health outcomes and quality of life through her research, Elisa was awarded the national honor of Pre-Dissertation Fellow by the Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work, where she is an active member.

As  a Research Specialist at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, Sarah’s research and evaluation focuses on chronic disease prevention, management, and health equity. She previously served as a Laboratory Manager/Research Assistant in the UI Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences studying bio-behavioral oncology.  She earned her Bachelors of Science in Microbiology and her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Iowa.

Xueying (Sherry) Gao, PhD, is a research associate in the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice/Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation. Dr. Gao earned a Ph.D. in Methodology, Measurement, and Analysis, and a Master of Arts in Research Methods Measurement and Evaluation. Her research focus on creating and validating psychological measures and quantitative methodologies for social science studies.

Carol Coohey, MSW, PhD, is a research scientist at the NRC and the curriculum development and training specialist for the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative. As a former professor at the University of Iowa, she has substantial experience in teaching and a broad background in research methods, with expertise in community-engaged program development and evaluation. Dr. Coohey also has substantial direct social work practice experience with children, adolescents, and adults who have experienced trauma and are in crisis or experiencing persistent mental health challenges.

Carrie Means, MSW, LISW is a research assistant with the Iowa Peer Workforce Development. She is a Ph.D. student at The University of Iowa School of Social Work with a research interest in family caregiving. Carrie’s clinical experience spans 20 years as a clinical social worker in health care, including 16 years with adult and pediatric dialysis populations.

Kellee McCrory, MSW, MPH, is the Director of Training for the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice at the University of Iowa School of Social Work. She has extensive expertise in curriculum development, evaluation, survey development, project management, public health, child welfare, and substance abuse research and programs. Ms. McCrory is currently the program manager for the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative grant which provides training and continuing education to peers (people with lived experience with serious mental illness or substance use disorder who are living well in recovery) in Iowa and provides technical assistance and support to Iowa agencies and organizations to enhance the employment, hiring, and retention of Peer Support Specialists, Family Peer Support Specialists, and Peer Recovery Coaches. Prior to her position as Director of Training, Ms. McCrory was as assistant professor of social work at Mount Mercy University, teaching courses in social work practice, diversity, research methods, group theory and practice, foundation and advanced field, and grant writing. She has also taught social work research courses and lectured in public health at the University of Iowa.

Lauren Vorwald is the Training and Development Associate for the Iowa Peer Workforce Collaborative at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice (NRCFCP) and a Certified Mental Health Peer Support Specialist (MHPSS). Prior to joining the NRCFCP, Lauren worked for the Iowa Peer & Family Peer Support Training Program within the University of Iowa Department of Pediatrics Division of Child and Community Health (UI-DCCH) in collaboration with Child Health Specialty Clinics (CHSC).

Greg Gross (they/them) has been with the NRC since 2019 as a research associate. They completed a BA in Spanish and a BS in psychology at Drake University in 2003. They completed a master’s in social work at the University of Iowa in 2012. In addition to their part-time work as a research associate for the NRC, Greg was an adjunct instructor through the University of Iowa School of Social Work until 2019. Currently, Greg is a PhD student in Social Work at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Kseniya is a Research Assistant at the University of Iowa School of Social Work, Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation. Since 2013, under direct supervision Kseniya assisted on research projects primarily focusing on working with Spanish speaking program participants, involving recruitment of research participants. Kseniya is a multilingual professional who speaks English, Russian, and Spanish.