Dr. Melissa Libertus named new Department Chair of Psychological Sciences
The Psychological Sciences Department of Case Western Reserve University is thrilled to announce our new department chair, Dr. Melissa Libertus. Dr. Libertus joins CWRU from the University of Pittsburgh, where she was Professor of Psychology, Senior Scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center, and Director of Graduate Studies overseeing graduate training and funding for more than 80 PhD students across five programs.
A developmental and cognitive psychologist whose research examines how children develop mathematical thinking and how parents support that development, she has published more than 110 peer-reviewed articles, secured close to $16 million in external funding, and currently serves as one of nine PIs on the NSF-funded ManyNumbers consortium, coordinating more than 130 labs across 30 countries. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. She has received several honors, including the Developmental Science Early Career Research Prize, the Mind, Brain, and Education Society Early Career Award, and the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science. She has directly mentored 3 junior faculty, 4 postdocs, 8 graduate students, and more than 160 undergraduates. We are excited for this new chapter of the Department of Psychological Sciences!
Developmental Screening day offered by Communication Sciences program
In partnership with the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Greater Cleveland, the Communication Sciences program at Case Western Reserve University held a free developmental screening day on August 19th.
This developmental screening day was for families with children ages 0-3 years and was open to the public! A Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, and a Speech Language Pathologist were on-site to answer any questions. Families were able to learn more about their child’s development, meet with therapy professionals, talk through any delays or concerns early, and be connected with resources to support their child’s development.
Students and staff across the Communication Sciences program volunteered their time during the break to support this event, intended to be held twice a year to support ongoing research and community engaged program initiatives through this partnership.
New faculty joining us this fall!
Three new faculty members have joined the department this fall, aside from our new department chair.
Dr. Alison Athey is a core faculty member of the Moll Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing. She earned her B.A. in psychology from Boston College and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Case Western Reserve University under the mentorship of James Overholser, Ph.D., ABPP. She completed a predoctoral residency at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and an NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Before joining the faculty, she was a Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation and an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she helped develop psychological services for the school’s Bipolar Disorder Clinic. Dr. Athey directs the Sentinel Lab for Crisis Response and Recovery, which advances the science and practice of suicide and overdose prevention. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, including an NIH R61/R33 award studying prolonged grief and substance use among people bereaved by overdose, as well as by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which honored her with its Paula J. Clayton Early Career Research Grant Award.
JoBeth Metcalf, MA CCC-SLP, graduated from Baldwin Wallace University in 2013 and CWRU (SLP) in 2015. She has worked in a variety of settings including SNF, adult inpatient rehab & acute care (MetroHealth), supervisor (University of Akron), and private practice. JoBeth and her husband Mike have two children, Grayson (6) and Maeve (3). As a family, we enjoy gardening, traveling, and baking. She will serve as our Clinical Coordinator for the 1st-year experience and part-time faculty member.
Emily Hornack, MA CCC-SLP is a native Clevelander and CWRU (SLP) graduate. Prior to being a speech-language pathologist, she worked in health policy and education. She worked at MetroHealth for 16 years primarily in outpatient rehabilitation gaining expertise in voice and swallowing disorders, head and neck cancer, cognitive-communicative disorders in adults, craniofacial disorders, autism assessment, and language development. She has also worked in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and skilled nursing settings. In her spare time, she runs an arts non-profit that she founded during her CWRU days, sing in a community choir, and enjoying hiking, boating, and skiing in the great outdoors. Ms. Hornack will serve as our Clinical Coordinator for the 2nd-year experience and as a part-time faculty member.
Postdoc plans for summer PhD graduates
Jill Laquidara completed her predoctoral clinical psychology internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. This summer, she began a postdoctoral position at the Early Psychosis Intervention Center at The Ohio State University.
Chris McGovern will be completing a clinical post doc at The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, within the Depression Recovery Center (DRC) and Suicide and Trauma Reduction (STRIVE) clinic.
Jenna Bagley started her postdoc at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago with Dr. Philip Held. She will be doing primarily PTSD treatment outcomes research, as well as some clinical work (mainly, intensive/massed-delivery trauma-focused therapies for PTSD), in the Treatment Response, Efficacy, Accessibility, and Timing (TREAT) Lab and the Road Home Program.
Joshua Inyangson started his postdoctoral fellowship at James Madison University Shenandoah Valley Child Development Clinic.