About Us

Ms. Asusena Martinez Balderas is a Program Coordinator with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Ms. Martinez Balderas holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Prior to joining CCR, Asusena spent four years teaching high school art. 

Ms. Martinez Balderas’ work focuses on supporting programmatic work of Center for Childhood Resilience focuses in areas of early childhood and community. She has spent much of her college and postgraduate time working with underserved youth, and saw firsthand the need for mental health services. She knew that joining CCR would allow her to play a role in ensuring youth and children are receiving the services they need.

Ms. Bea Cabello is a Behavioral Research Coordinator with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Bea has over 7 years of research experience in school, hospital, and community settings. Her work is centered on understanding and addressing the behavioral health access disparities for children and families in marginalized communities. Bea also served as an epidemiologist for COVID surveillance for pregnant people in Chicago. Bea’s research interests focus on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based interventions for youth to school and community settings, as well as the evaluation methods for these programs. 

Bea has collaborated on various publications and conference presentations in the field of school mental health and integrated primary care. Her training focuses on mixed method analysis. She is well-versed in various statistical analysis software tools and research protocols. One of Bea’s favorite roles throughout her career is as a bilingual community liaison as lead research coordinator in Philadelphia schools. Bea established relationships with school staff and families, especially Latinx. Additionally, Bea has served as a mentor to young research professionals, guiding them in their graduate school applications, first job applications, and collaborating in academic poster presentations.

Bea holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology from Villanova University, and a Master of Public Health focused on Community Health and Prevention and Health Economics from Drexel University.

Bianca Ramos is a bilingual Social Worker and Mental Health Consultant with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. With over 8 years of experience in hospital, school and community settings, her work has included clinical services, coaching, training and delivery of evidence-based group interventions to children and adolescents.

Ms. Ramos’ work in CCR focuses on School Mental Health. This includes training and consultation on the Behavioral Health Team (BHT) model. She is also a certified trainer for the group intervention Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG). She works collaboratively with schools and community agencies by providing consultation, training and coaching on establishing best practice systems and structures to create and maintain healing-centered child and youth serving classrooms and organizations. She is an experienced trainer and provides reflective consultation around establishing trauma-responsive and culturally attuned environments and practices. Ms. Ramos is co-author of the Stress and Coping Toolkit, a 5-module plug and play toolkit for Chicago Public Schools teachers.

Ms. Ramos holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Social Work degree with a specialty in Direct Services from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico. 

Brianna is a Program Coordinator with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She has over 3 years of administrative experience in the hospital setting. Her work focuses on supporting the Center for Childhood Resilience team by coordinating trainings and events that promote resilience and increase access to evidence-based mental health programming for children and communities impacted by poverty, toxic stress and trauma, and racism.

Brianna holds a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois State University. She joined CCR in the hopes of assisting to ensure events that are offered through the team run as smoothly as possible to deliver the best possible trainings, ultimately to make the world a better place one person at a time.

She is most passionate about connecting with large groups in an organized way to promote efficiency. Some personal experiences that connect to her professional career is growing up surrounded by peers that actively showed need for the support that CCR offers, and recognizing that change needed to be made in the school system so that mental health supports could be available to anyone in need. Brianna’s biggest accomplishment at CCR thus far is coordinating intervention trainings and working with partners at CPS and OSEL to ensure a smooth training process.

Biggest personal accomplishment is growing professionally in more of a leading position in coordinator role. A fun fact about Brianna is that her Harry Potter house is Ravenclaw, whose characteristics are perfect for a role like coordinator. What drove Brianna to work at CCR is to ultimately make a change in communities through work CCR offers. 

Carmen is a licensed clinical social worker with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Carmen has over 15 years of expertise delivering clinical and case management services to students in school settings, facilitating evidence-based group interventions and partnering with school leaders, staff and community members. Her work focuses on promoting resilience in children and youth and increasing access to evidence-based mental health programming for children and communities.

Carmen has co-authored, Ready to Learn Through Relationships, a trauma-informed framework and toolkit for early childhood educators and serves on local and regional boards and committees, including the Office of Head Start National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety, Once Upon Our Time Capsule and Carole Roberston Center for Learning. She is a regional trainer for the Think First and Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) interventions. Carmen is also a Barbara Bowman Leadership Fellow with the Erikson Institute. Carmen has also co-authored publications in the areas of risk and resilience factors for children exposed to stress and trauma, school mental health, and trauma-informed preschool settings.

Carmen holds a Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University, New Orleans, LA and a Master of Arts from University of Chicago. 

Dr. Caroline Kerns is a licensed clinical psychologist with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Kerns has over 10 years of experience in hospital, school, and community settings. Her work focuses on building capacity for the implementation of evidence-based mental health practices across settings to improve children and families’ access to these vital supports. Dr. Kerns collaborates with educators and community partners to promote universal prevention and intervention strategies that are trauma-informed and culturally attuned, with an emphasis on early childhood populations. Dr. Kerns also conducts research and program evaluation on these implementation efforts.

Dr. Kerns provides training and supervision in evidence-based interventions to multidisciplinary trainees in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and is a certified trainer in the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children & Adolescents. She is a founding co-chair of the Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Special Interest Group within the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Kerns holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Boston University, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Boston University.

Caryn Curry is a licensed clinical social worker and Director of Organizational Excellence with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. In her Organizational Excellence role, Ms. Curry leads CCR team efforts to sustain high levels of quality and integrity in significant aspects of the Center, including its culture, leadership, people, processes, external partnerships, and results.

Ms. Curry has over 30 years of clinical and programmatic experience in hospital, residential, community and educational settings. Her work focuses on building capacity of schools and other child and youth-serving organizations to create trauma-informed, healing-centered systems and practices. She leads work with pre-service educators, educators, school clinician and range of community partners. She provides training and consultation to partners, bringing a lens of cultural attunement and mutuality to her relationships. Her work is grounded in the critical importance of adults building their social and emotional capacity to effectively educate and nurture children toward success and well-being in school and life. 

Ms. Curry currently serves on two not-for-profit boards and on the Steering Committee for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Ms. Curry holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Practice from the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice at the University of Chicago (formerly the School of Social Service Administration).

Ms. Zhou is a Mental Health Consultant with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She has over a decade of experience in school and community settings, with a primary focus in school-based social work. Collaborating closely with schools, Ms. Zhou offers consultation, training, and coaching to establish best practice systems and structures, fostering healing-centered school environments.

Ms. Zhou specializes in cultivating the social and emotional capacities of adults, focusing on empowering educators to better support their students. Additionally, she actively supports the development and implementation of comprehensive Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) to address students’ behavioral, social, and emotional needs. She collaborates with school districts to facilitate the development and sustainability of Behavioral Health Teams (BHTs). Ms. Zhou delivers training and supported implementation for evidence-based interventions in anger and anxiety management. As an experienced trainer, she offers reflective consultation for establishing trauma-responsive and culturally-attuned environments and practices.

Ms. Zhou holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Science degree in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently, she holds an Illinois Professional Educator License with endorsements for school social work.

Christina Torres is a Program Finance Lead with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Ms. Torres has over 14 years of financial and accounting experience in healthcare and non-profit community settings. Her work focuses on financial management of CCR grant, philanthropic and contract funding and ensuring a strong financial foundation to sustain and foster the growth of CCR’s important work. 

Ms. Torres’ portfolio comprises private philanthropic foundations, local and state partners including Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and federal agencies including Office of Head Start (OHS) and National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). Her skills and expertise in grant, gift, and contracted services management, strong leadership qualities, and exceptional budgeting and monitoring skills ensure that programs operate efficiently, re-enforce relationships with partners and keep our organization fiscally sound. 

Ms. Torres holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Care Administration and Management, and a Master of Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Phoenix.

Dr. Cicchetti has over 30 years of experience as a clinical psychologist with focus on school and community mental health. In 2004, Dr. Cicchetti founded the CCR which develops, evaluates, and disseminates mental health innovative practices to promote systems change, increase access, and reduce mental health disparities where kids live, learn and play. In her Executive Director role, Dr. Cicchetti is responsible for strategic, programmatic, financial, and operational leadership. This includes providing strategic input and leadership on decision-making issues affecting the program, specifically evaluating potential partners, funding opportunities, research initiatives and partnerships. She oversees practices and procedures to increase the financial and operational effectiveness and to achieve the goals and education mission of CCR. Dr. Cicchetti’s serves as mentor and interacts with faculty and staff members at all levels to foster growth and encourage development among all CCR team members. 

CCR is fully externally funded by grants, philanthropy, and contracted services. In 1998, Dr. Cicchetti secured her first innovation grant for $5,000. This award propelled her to further commit to evidence-based community mental health work. In 2004, Dr. Cicchetti served as co-PI for a $745,000 school-based mental health research project which formally launched CCR programming. In 2015, Dr. Cicchetti secured a 5-year $1M philanthropic investment to strengthen CCR’s infrastructure and strategic growth. Under Dr. Cicchetti’s leadership, CCR has diversified funding and increased overall funding from $800,000 in FY15 to $8,260,000 in FY22. During the 2022-year, Dr. Cicchetti help steward a $25M philanthropic gift to the hospital which includes $5M support to CCR.

Dr. Cicchetti serves in leadership roles in numerous city advocacy groups, including her appointed role on the Chicago Council on Mental Health, and as Co-Chair of the School Health Access Committee (SHAC). She also serves as an expert on a number of state and national advisory boards, committee, and task force efforts. Currently, this includes roles as Clinical Director of the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition (ICTC) and Executive Committee of the Children’s Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP).

Dr. Cicchetti holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University, Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a PhD in clinical psychology from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Courtney Zulauf-McCurdy is a licensed clinical psychologist with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Zulauf-McCurdy has over 10 years of clinical and research experience in medical, school, and community settings. Her mission is to decrease mental health disparities in early childhood by improving the implementation of preventative interventions in community settings. Her research focuses on partnering with caregivers of young children to find ways to support them in working together to promote the healthy development of our most vulnerable young children.  

To support her research, Dr. Zulauf-McCurdy has secured federal, foundation, and philanthropic funding as a principal investigator. Her research has been featured in media outlets including NBC and CBS. She regularly advocates for equitable early childhood education at the practice and policy level.  

Dr. Zulauf-McCurdy completed a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a doctoral internship in Integrative Behavioral Health at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She completed an Institute of Education Sciences fellowship at the University of Washington SMART Center. 

David W. Johnson, PhD LSW is a Research Assistant Professor with the Center for Childhood Resilience in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Johnson has more than a decade of experience in education research and school improvement efforts. His research focuses on the role that schools and evidence-based interventions play in shaping both the mental and behavioral health of young people, as well as their academic achievement and attainment. Dr. Johnson’s research supports both community-based and district-led efforts to create and sustain student-centered school environments that address and promote the resilience and wellbeing of young people, particularly those affected by poverty, violence, and racism.  

Dr. Johnson holds doctoral and masters degrees from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, as well as a masters degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and a former kindergarten and first grade classroom teacher in the Washington DC Public Schools.

Jovan Nikki Seals is a Program Coordinator with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Mrs. Seals has over 16 years of experience in hospital, early childhood, management services. Her work focuses on program support for complex statewide programs and serves as liaison with external program partners and senior leaders. Her experience, skills and proactive approach allow her to anticipate the needs of the program and support growth of the program and team.

Mrs. Seals holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from DeVry University and Hospitality Fundamentals certificate from University of Phoenix. 

Dr. Khushbu Shah is a dual board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Shah joined the Center for Childhood Resilience in the Fall of 2021. She has extensive clinical and research experience in hospital, school, and community settings. Her role with CCR has focused on trainee education, as she directs the psychiatry fellow schools and community rotation, and a corresponding multidisciplinary didactic series.  Her clinical time is spent on the Inpatient Unit and the Partial Hospitalization Program. 

She serves on several local and national psychiatry committees, including the Schools Committee of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Shah has published and presented work in the areas of systems of care, school mental health, childhood trauma, public health, ethics, and psychiatry training.

She completed her medical education and public health training at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her general/adult psychiatry training at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where she served as Chief Resident. Dr. Shah completed her child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Vanderbilt University. She concurrently completed a Distinction in Biomedical Ethics certificate through the Vanderbilt Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society.

Mashana is a clinical psychologist with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Mashana has over 20 years of clinical and research experience in hospital, school, and community settings. Her work focuses on promoting resilience and increasing access to evidence-based mental health programming for children and communities impacted by poverty, toxic stress and trauma, and racism. Mashana’s research focuses on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based interventions for youth to school and community settings and program development and evaluation. 

Mashana serves on several local and regional advocacy groups, including, the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition, the School Health Access Collaborative. Also, she serves on the national board of Youth Guidance. She is a regional trainer for the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) intervention. Mashana has published work in the areas of school mental health and the development of models that support a behavioral health infrastructure within schools.  

Mashana holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hampton University, a Master of Arts and PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from DePaul University.

Maury Prieto is a social worker and Mental Health Consultant with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Ms. Prieto has over 14 years of experience in schools and community settings. Maury has done work in prevention programming for youth, child welfare and as a school social worker. Ms. Prieto’s work has focused on using evidence-based curriculum to deliver clinical services and provide group and individual intervention services for youth in schools. Ms. Prieto is a first generation American and proud daughter of Mexican and Colombian immigrants.

Currently, Ms. Prieto is focusing on the statewide REACH initiative, Behavioral Health Teams, and Tier II interventions.

Ms. Prieto holds a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching of Spanish from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Social Work from the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work  

Meg O’Rourke is a licensed clinical social worker, Senior Mental Health Consultant, and learning and development lead for Lurie Children’s Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR). Ms. O’Rourke has over 25 years of experience in child welfare, the child advocacy center model, trauma-informed work, and clinical supervision. Ms. O’Rourke has worked as a consultant over the past two decades assisting not-for-profits in program development, grant management, continuous quality-improvement and social service administration. Ms. O’Rourke’s current projects at CCR include REACH, a statewide, evidence-informed initiative that is helping more than 500 K-12 schools create safe, healthy learning environments for students to learn and grow. Ms. O’Rourke has used her experience in program development and leadership to create a learning and development team to provide free, online courses to over 12,000 educators and clinicians via the Learning & Resource Hub. She works collaboratively to expand learning materials and resources provided on the Learning & Resource Hub to provide a comprehensive and supportive learning community and expand capacity across the state to support children and youth who have experienced trauma. The Learning & Resource Hub achieved Gold in the ‘Best Advance in Social Impact Innovation’ category from Brandon Hall Excellence Awards in 2023 for its work in addressing the impact of trauma on students across the state of Illinois.

Ms. O’Rourke’s past presentations at national conferences include topics such as “Children’s Advocacy Centers and Children with Disabilities: A Multi-System Approach,” “Talking sex, healthy relationships and safety with children with disabilities,” and “Child advocacy centers as partners in sexual abuse prevention in communities.” She is a member of Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition’s Workforce Development Committee, the Learning Network, and past president of Adoption Information Services of Illinois. 

Ms. O’Rourke holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Indiana University, and a Master of Social Work from Boston College. 

Michael is a Senior Administrative Assistant with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. He loves problem solving and being a go-to resource for his team, and he has 20 years of office management and administrative experience.  

Michael holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Nell McKitrick has over 26 years of experience in administration, strategic planning, operations and talent management. She has focused her career on helping social sector organizations achieve goals and improve results. In 2015, she joined the CCR team. In her current role, she is responsible for providing leadership and ensuring a solid financial foundation, strong operations, and strategic partnerships to support and foster the growth of CCR’s important work. Prior to joining CCR, she was a Director at Chicago Public Schools.

Ms. McKitrick holds a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University and Masters in Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

Rimma Ilyumzhinova is a Behavioral Research Coordinator II with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Ms. Ilyumzhinova has over 8 years of clinical and research experience in community and academic settings. Her work focuses on supporting and coordinating research projects promoting mental wellness and culturally-attuned trauma informed care in early childhood. Her broad research interests are focused on health disparities and the impact of stress and early adverse experiences on child mental health and development. 

Rimma has participated in various national conferences and has published work in the areas of maternal stress, infant development, and women’s mental health in communities of color.

Rimma holds a Master of Arts in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness from New York University.

Ms. Saadia Elahi is a Graduate Research Assistant with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Saadia is gaining clinical and research experience in hospital, school, and community settings. Saadia's research and clinical interests center on increasing access to quality mental health interventions for youth from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. At CCR, Saadia supports projects aiming to bolster comprehensive school mental health systems and trauma-informed supports. Her current research focuses on evaluating the implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions in schools. Saadia is also interested in supporting the mental health needs of newcomer (i.e., immigrant and refugee) youth. Previously, Saadia has published work on social communication in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, as well as on help-seeking attitudes in Muslim communities. Saadia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience from Northwestern University.

Sybil Baker is a licensed clinical social worker and Associate Director of School Mental Health Interventions with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Ms. Baker has over 17 years of clinical experience in school and community settings. Her expertise focuses on increasing access to evidence-based mental health programming for children and communities impacted by poverty, toxic stress and trauma, and racism.

Ms. Baker works collaboratively with schools and community agencies by providing consultation, coaching and training on best practices for trauma-responsive, healing-centered, and culturally-responsive systems, structures, and mental health interventions.  She is a highly skilled national trainer and innovator in the area of school-based mental health supports. Ms. Baker is a national trainer for the Cognitive Behavior Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), Bounce Back, and Anger Coping interventions. She has co-authored published work in the areas of school mental health, trauma, and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based mental health programs.  Ms. Baker is co-author of the Stress and Coping Toolkit, a 5-module plug and play toolkit for Chicago Public Schools teachers. She also serves on the School Health Access Collaborative.      

Ms. Baker holds a Bachelor of Arts from Seattle Pacific University, and a Master of Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. She also holds a post-master’s Certificate in Advanced Practice in Schools from Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Tali Raviv is a licensed clinical psychologist and Director of School Mental Health with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Raviv has over 15 years of clinical and research experience in hospital, school, and community settings. Her work focuses on promoting resilience and increasing access to evidence-based mental health programming for children and communities impacted by poverty, toxic stress and trauma, and racism. Dr. Raviv’s research focuses on the development, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based mental health interventions for youth in school and community settings. 

Dr. Raviv serves on several local and regional advocacy groups, including the Promoting Access Towards Hope and Healing (PATHH) Collaborative, the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition, the School Health Access Collaborative, and the Steering Committee for the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. She is a national trainer for the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) and Bounce Back interventions. Dr. Raviv has published work in the areas of school mental health, child maltreatment, risk and resilience factors for youth exposed to stress and trauma, and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based mental health programs. She is also co-author of the book, Creating Healing School Communities: School-Based Interventions for Students Exposed to Trauma.

Dr. Raviv holds a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University, a Master of Arts in Child Clinical Psychology from University of Denver, and a PhD in clinical psychology from University of Denver.

Dr. Tara Gill is a Clinical Psychologist with the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the Center for Childhood Resilience since 2014. She has approximately 20 years of experience in outpatient, community, hospital and school-based mental health. This includes work at the Mount Sinai Hospital’s Department of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health, and the DePaul Community Mental Health Center. Her work focuses on increasing best practices and capacity building with educators, community leaders and other mental health professionals. Her particular interests in working with children from racialized communities and trauma saturated backgrounds have guided her career to include advocacy, child welfare, policy and community engagement.  Dr. Gill is committed to increasing equity and addressing racism in education and healthcare.

At Lurie Children’s Hospital, Dr. Gill has contributed to school-based projects with Chicago Public Schools and surrounding communities, developing systems of support for students and in increasing capacity of school staff. Dr. Gill is trained in evidenced-based interventions such as trauma-focused treatment, and an anger management curriculum for elementary & middle school youth.  Addressing diversity and African American and Latino mental health has been a focus of her teaching, research, training, and intervention.

In collaboration with the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Health & Medicine Policy and Research Group, Dr. Gill is the current Co-Chair of a task force that is working to elevate Trauma-Informed and Healing Centered frameworks to the city of Chicago. She has also served as the Academic Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) at Northwestern University, as well been a member and leader in numerous Race and Equity Taskforces and learning collaboratives. Dr. Gill has obtained several grants, such as the Linzer Grant sponsored by the Provost Office at Northwestern University to engage in pipeline development in healthcare. Additionally, she was awarded grant funding for work with youth:  a) workforce development using the H.E.A.L. curriculum, and b) community engaged research in a collaborative project with a youth civic organization, focused on youth experiences with COVID-19.

Dr. Gill received her B.S. degree from Jackson State University and a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from DePaul University. 

Yvita Bustos, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow with the Center for Childhood Resilience at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Bustos holds a Bachelor of Arts from DePaul University, and a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Bustos has had extensive clinical and research experience in hospitals, schools, and community settings. Dr. Bustos has conducted research at Loyola University, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Her work focuses on promoting resilience and increasing access to evidence-based mental health programming for children and communities who have experienced trauma from urban, low-income, immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Her research includes program evaluation, program development, and the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based interventions for youth to school and community settings. Dr. Bustos also provides psychotherapy with children and families with a focus on mood disorders, anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and trauma. Dr. Bustos has published work in the areas of immigrant mental health, school mental health, risk and resilience factors for youth, and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based mental health programs.