This month we happily welcome Phyllis Moen, current McKnight Endowed Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota, and former Cornell faculty and founding director of the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell. Chris and Phyllis discuss her research on the mismatch between outdated work-time and career/retirement scripts and 21st century workforce and economic realities. She also studies gender differences and disparities at all stages of the changing life course. The old...
Jan 25, 2019•21 min
Amanda Purington is our guest this episode. She and host Janis Whitlock discuss Amanda's work on Social Media TestDrive, a program that gives youth a safe, simulated online experience. TestDrive also sparks conversations between youth, youth practitioners and parents about online safety, cyberbullying, and positive online experiences. Amanda has long-standing relationships with various non-researcher stakeholders and talks about the ways those rich connections improve both practice and research....
Dec 07, 2018•15 min
Chris is joined by bethany ojalehto of Cornell's Department of Human Development this episode. They discuss bethany's work examining how we conceptualize the natural world and how our perspectives influence what we find possible in that context. She works with the indigenous Ngöbe communities of Panama and non-indigenous people in the US and elsewhere in the "west," examining how ideas of sustainability vary across these cultures. bethany ojalehto is assistant professor of human development at C...
Nov 26, 2018•21 min
Guest host Janis Whitlock talks to Kimberly Kopko about her research on parenting, parenting education, and working with communities. Kopko notes the importance of getting buy-in from the right people at community agencies when collaborating on a research project, and the need to work to give all children an equally strong start in life. Kimberly Kopko is senior extension associate, associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and associate director of extension and outreach in the Colleg...
Oct 14, 2018•19 min
In our first episode with host and new BCTR Director Chris Wildeman, we hear from Bruce Western, who studies incarceration and reentry into society. They discuss incarceration's effect on social and economic inequality; Dr Western's feeling that big datasets weren't telling the whole story about incarceration and reentry - and how his research took a different approach; and how understanding and expanding the idea of justice in the lives of disadvantaged people can improve social problems. Bruce...
Sep 19, 2018•17 min
Our guest Neil Lewis studies how the interplay between social identity and social contexts shape motivation and goal-pursuit processes. He uses this framework to understand social disparities, particularly disparities in education and health outcomes. He and Karl discuss ways that identity and social situations can affect health outcomes, obstacles when working with communities, and why education is so important for communities, not just individuals. Neil A. Lewis, Jr. is an assistant professor ...
May 14, 2018•19 min
It's our 20th episode! This seemed like a good moment to address a question we often hear: What is translational research? To tackle this important question Karl is joined by BCTR associate director John Eckenrode. They cover the origins of translational research, and how it differs from "basic" and "applied" research. There are some examples of translational research projects and throughout the conversation they touch on why this research method is so effective and more and more in-demand by fu...
May 02, 2018•48 min
BCTR associate director Chris Wildeman sits in for Karl Pillemer this episode. Our guest James Garbarino argues that teenage killers are not doomed to a life of violence and most can be reahabilitated by the time they are fully-developed adults. They also talk about sentencing in these cases, how the judicial system deals with young killers, and what could be changed to better serve this youth while keeping the public safe. James Garbarino holds the Maude Clarke Chair in Psychology and was found...
Mar 21, 2018•19 min
Maria Fitzpatrick, the current Milman Fellow in the Bronfenbrenner Center, sat down with Karl to talk about her work centering on creating well being for the most vulnerable: children and elder adults. Maria is the first economist we've had on the podcast! They discuss mortality and retirement, the opoid crisis and child maltreatment, Maria's insights into working with policy makers, and the importance of high-quality early childhood programs. Maria Fitzpatrick is an associate professor in the D...
Mar 06, 2018•18 min
In this episode we hear from Janis Whitock, director of the Youth Risk and Opportunity Lab in the Bronfenbrenner Center at Cornell University. She and Karl talk about how she unexpectedly began to study self-injury in youth, and how that focus has widened to examine the risks youth face in their transition to adulthood. Dr. Whitlock also discusses how to best communicate with policymakers and practitioners, among other topics. Janis Whitlock is a research scientist in the Bronfenbrenner Center f...
Jan 22, 2018•20 min
In this episode BCTR director Karl Pillemer welcomes Dr. Monika Safford to discuss how the chronically ill rural poor are underserved or completely unserved by the current health care system. This lack of resources has created resourceful and creative community medical groups that fill in the gaps, and with whom Dr. Safford and her team have partnered to address the health crises in their communities. Dr. Safford is the John J. Kulper Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine and the c...
Dec 12, 2017•18 min
Peter Lloyd-Sherlock examines the social protection, health, and well being of older people in developing countries. In this conversation he looks at some myths about elder care in developing countries (strong family support is not always present or adequate), considers the responsibilities of researchers who collaborate with NGOs, and calls for greater social care for elders. Peter Lloyd-Sherlock is Professor of Social Policy & International Development in the School of International Develo...
Aug 16, 2017•20 min
In this episode Karl chats with Dr. Elissa Kozlov about psychological support for patients in palliative care. Dr. Kozlov also discusses insurance coverage for mental health in palliative care, support for family members, and the important difference between palliative and hospice care (they're not at all the same thing!). Dr. Elissa Kozlov is a T32 post-doctoral fellow at Weill Cornell Medical College at the Center for End-of-Life Research. She earned her doctorate from Washington University in...
Apr 27, 2017•19 min
Dana Weiner provides analytic consultaion to child welfare systems, using existing data to help policy makers better help children in need. She and Karl discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with using data and research evidence to inform decision making in public policy. Her highly collaborative work focuses on the prevention of problems before they occur. Dana Weiner is a policy fellow at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, where she provides analyti...
Apr 27, 2017•19 min
In this episode Karl and Marney Thomas discuss her decades of work evaluating military programs that support soldiers' and their families' health and well being. Marney Thomas is Military Projects Director Emeritus and Co-Principal Investigator Military Projects in the BCTR. Her research includes examining the implementation/impact of US Army family program services, the effects of deployment on military family functioning, and evaluation studies on family violence intervention programs.
Apr 10, 2017•19 min
In this episode Megan Comfort and Karl chat about deeper engagement with communities, particularly post-study, integrating community feedback into the research process, and the effects of incarceration on families. Megan Comfort is a senior research sociologist in Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International’s Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice research division. Her research interests and areas of expertise include families and incarceration, HIV risk and prevention, and health inequitie...
Mar 10, 2017•15 min
Dr. Mardelle M. Shepley is a professor in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis and associate director of the Cornell Institute for Health Futures. A registered architect, she interweaves teaching and practice. She and Karl discuss using evidence-based design to solve problems, the impact of the physical environment on behavior, collaborating with those who will use a space, and the importance of incorporating access to nature into design.
Feb 14, 2017•16 min
This time Karl welcomes Jen Agans, assistant director of the Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE). They discuss the importance of research/community partnerships, Agan's research on children's out-of-school time, and Agans explains what exactly the 4-H program is. Dr. Jennifer Agans is assistant director of PRYDE in the Bronfenbrenner Center. Before coming to Cornell University, she received her Ph.D. and M.A. in child study and human development from Tufts University...
Dec 05, 2016•16 min
Brian Leidy is director of The Military Projects in the Bronfenbrenner Center. He and Karl discuss the project's work doing process evaluation for the military and the challenges and importance of supporting this unique community. Brian D. Leidy is a senior extension associate and the principal investigator for the Military Projects in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. This work is funded primarily through grants from USDA/NIFA. He has formerly worked as a managerial consulta...
Nov 08, 2016•16 min
In this episode Karl Pillemer talks with Marianella Casasola about her work examining infant cognitive development, early word learning, and early spatial cognition. Dr. Casasola talks about her experiences partnering with Head Start to do research, details of her more recent findings, and she gives some advice that any new parent can easily employ to boost infant learning. Marianella Casasola is an associate professor of human development and a faculty fellow of the Bronfenbrenner Center for Tr...
Sep 06, 2016•18 min
This time Karl talks with Christopher Wildeman about his research on mass incarceration and inequality. Christopher Wildeman is an associate professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, where he is also co-director of the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect and a faculty fellow here in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. Chris talks about his research and the way working with communities has strengthened his wor...
Jul 18, 2016•19 min
In this episode Bronfenbrenner Center director Karl Pillemer talks with Anthony Burrow, assistant professor of Human Development, director of the Purpose and Identity Processes Lab, and co-director of the Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE) at Cornell. Karl and Tony discuss the importance of purpose in the lives of young people and the ways that we can encourage youth connection to purpose for their own benefit.
Jun 13, 2016•18 min
In this episode Bronfenbrenner Center director Karl Pillemer talks with Corinna Loeckenhoff, associate professor of Human Development and director of the Laboratory for Healthy Aging at Cornell and associate professor of Gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Karl and Corinna discuss Dr. Loeckenhoff's research on aging and its effects on emotional and mental health, including the reminder that aging is not dying. They also talk about the new book "Emotion, Aging, and Health" (...
May 11, 2016•18 min
In this episode we hear from Andy Turner, who heads the 4-H Youth Development Program in New York State. He talks with BCTR director Karl Pillemer about 4-H/Cornell connections and changes he sees that will keep 4-H at the forefront of youth development programming. Andy has over 25 years' experience in Cooperative Extension/4-H. Advancing environmental education and sustainability, and applying a facilitative leadership style towards organizational change and innovation are two consistent theme...
Apr 11, 2016•19 min
In our second episode BCTR director Karl Pillmer talks to Dr. Charles Izzo, a research associate in the BCTR studying the multi-level processes by which programmed interventions influence human functioning and health. His work focuses on factors that influence the quality of interactions between those in the helping professions (youth workers, home visitors) and the clients they serve, and translating research knowledge into useful tools for practitioners and administrators.
Mar 07, 2016•27 min
In this episode of Doing Translational Research, BCTR director Karl Pillemer interviews Cornell professor of nutritional science Carol Devine. Professor Devine studies how food choices over the life course are shaped by life transitions, social roles, and the lived environment.
Mar 02, 2016•16 min
