Our STEPS Study Team

Principle Investigator

Dr. Portia Miller

Portia Miller is a developmental psychologist and is an expert in examining how income and poverty shape children’s development. Her research goals focus on investigating how economic disadvantage impacts child and adolescent development, with a particular interest in examining factors that contribute to or can alleviate income disparities in school readiness. In pursuing these goals, Portia has studied how children's early contexts, like neighborhoods and child care, shape the academic and behavioral development of ethnically-diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged children. She uses an interdisciplinary approach that integrates theories and methods from psychology, developmental psychopathology, economics, and sociology. Portia earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She also received a J.D. and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. In her spare time, Portia enjoys reading and spending time with her family.

Co-Investigators

Dr. Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal

Dr. Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal is a professor of psychology and a senior scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. She is also a faculty affiliate at the University of Pittsburgh's Center on Race and Social Problems. Dr. Votruba-Drzal's research focuses on how dimensions of socioeconomic status, including income and education, shape child and adolescent development. Additionally, Dr. Votruba-Drzal addresses a range of research questions with relevance for characterizing and addressing inequality in children's life chances. She received a Ph.D. in human development and social policy from Northwestern University. She graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in social relations. Outside of her work life, Dr. Votruba-Drzal enjoys spending time with her family as well as reading, running, hiking, skiing, and practicing yoga.

Dr. Jamie Hanson

Dr. Hanson is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, a developmental scientist, and a stress neurobiologist, with considerable expertise in cognitive, clinical, and affective neuroscience in children, youth, and adults. His research program examines how different adverse experiences or negative developmental contexts influence the emergence of psychopathology. This work has primarily centered on brain alterations in relation to different early life adversities (e.g., abuse, neglect, the stressors associated with poverty). Dr. Hanson has connected these neurobiological metrics to variations in mental health (i.e., depression; anxiety; externalizing and rule-breaking). In his spare time, Jamie enjoys trying new restaurants in Pittsburgh, biking, and spending time with his daughter.

Dr. Christina Gibson-Davis

Dr. Christina Gibson-Davis is a professor of public policy and the Principal Investigator for the Duke site of the STEPS study. She is a family demographer who studies the health and well-being of low-income families and their children. In her work, she concentrates on factors that determine familial and child flourishing, including economic and policy inputs and family structure. Her most recent work has concentrated on the contours of wealth among households with children. Dr. Gibson-Davis earned her B.A. in Philosophy from Bates College, and her M.A. and PhD in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University. Outside of her work life, Christina enjoys playing tennis, running, reading, knitting (and unknitting), and watching too many Law & Order reruns!

Research Scientist

Dr. Emily Jones

Dr. Emily Jones is a staff research scientist and a research associate of the STEPS study. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the College of New Jersey, Master's degrees in Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Biobehavioral Health from Penn State University. Before becoming a research scientist, she was recently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry's Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine T32 training program. As a postdoctoral fellow, she conducted literature reviews and secondary data analysis; oversaw data collection for an R01 project; co-taught a course on health inequities; and published multiple first author publications, as well as an NIH grant proposal. In her free time, Emily enjoys anything outdoors, especially running and biking all around Pittsburgh. She also loves reading and listening to podcasts.

Staff

Amber Liller

Amber Liller is the project manager for the Pitt site of the STEPS study. She manages all aspects of screening, consent, recruitment, and data collection for the project. Amber graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor's degree in psychology and English. During her undergraduate degree, Amber worked as a research assistant in the Early Development Lab with Dr. Lillard at the University of Virginia and as a preschool teacher. Last year, Amber spent her time working as a research assistant under the Parents Promoting Early Learning Study with Dr. Libertus, Dr. Bachman, and Dr. Votruba-Drzal at the University of Pittsburgh. Outside of the lab, Amber enjoys reading, playing trivia or board games, and attending sports games.

Danielle Samake

Danielle Samake is a Research Data Technician II (Project Manager) on the STEPS project. Prior to Sanford, Danielle worked as the Undergraduate Program Coordinator at the Center for Christianity and Scholarship, Duke’s Christian Study Center.
Danielle graduated from Princeton University in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and certificates (minors) in African Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. At Princeton, Danielle conducted independent research on social and economic mobility, as well as motivations for migration, among West African and Latino/a/x immigrant populations. She is excited to bring her passion for serving vulnerable communities to the STEPS project and hopes to pursue service-oriented graduate work in the future.

Hannah Parker

Julija Hetherington

Julija Hetherington is the data manager for the PPEL studies at the Learning Research and Development Center. Julija earned a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and has over 23 years of data management experience on several NIH-funded longitudinal studies including designing, creating, and maintaining databases. Julija has previously worked as a data manager in two different labs in the Psychology Department at the University of Pittsburgh. Outside of her work life, Julija enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, dancing, and doing photography.

Sheri Petrequin

Sheri Petrequin is a Senior Research Data Technician for the STEPS study. She is also a Senior Research Data Technician for the Bridging English Language Learning and Academics (BELLA) study, also at Duke, which is a professional development program for classroom and ESL teachers to support language and literacy growth for their multilingual learners. Sheri earned her B.A. in Social Science from San Jose State University and a CLAD (Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition Development K-8 Teaching Credential) from National University in Santa Clara. Before becoming a data technician, Sheri was an elementary school teacher for the majority of her career. In her free time, Sheri enjoys hiking, reading, and baking.

Teresa Longnecker

Teresa is a Senior Research Data Technician at Duke University. Since 2016, she has worked as a community-based bilingual interviewer in the Durham area for Duke’s Parenting Across Cultures project, a long-term study in nine countries, which researches parenting practices and youth development among different cultures around the world. Additionally, she has worked on the BELLA Study (Bridging English Language Learning and Academics) as a bilingual parent interviewer, classroom observer and language assessment administrator in English and Spanish. She holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. from George Washington University. For fun she loves to travel most anywhere, especially to Spanish-speaking countries, and she also loves to be active. If she’s not hiking Machu Picchu with her family in Peru or exploring ancient Mayan civilizations in Mexico and Central America, you will find her at the local YMCA or hiking the many lovely trails in North Carolina.

Graduate Students

Ana Cedillo

Ana is a current public policy graduate student at Duke in the Sanford School. Her primary research interests are in qualitative methodologies applied across a wide range of subjects from climate shocks to farmers in North Carolina to prison conditions in Mexico. Prior to STEPS, she worked in consulting and NGOs, with the former USAID and the International Narcotics and Law Bureau for four years, providing technical assistance to Mexican public security institutions. In In her free time, you can find her searching for a good place to dance or stretching her grad student budget to catch her latest favorite artist.

Andres Parraguirre

Undergraduates

Shaughnessea Richardson

Shaughnessea Richardson is a senior undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh and a research coordinator for the STEPS study. She also leads the recruitment strategy for STEPS, with a focus on social media and teen recruitment, and is also involved in the consent, screening, and participant retention processes. Additionally, Shaughnessea (Shaughny) is a research assistant in both the Smart Beginnings Lab, under Dr. Daniel Shaw, and also in the Behavioral Interventions of Children’s and Teens’ Eating (BITE) lab, under Dr. Andrea Goldschmidt. As a senior at Pitt, Shaughny is studying Psychology and Sociology, and is currently applying to graduate schools to pursue a PhD in School Psychology. In her free time, Shaughny enjoys reading, taking yoga classes, and watching rom-coms.

Tamsin Connerly

Tamsin Connerly is an undergraduate Research Assistant for STEPS at Duke University majoring in Public Policy, with minors in Statistical Science and Spanish. She has previously worked at the U.S. Department of Transportation and ICF, where she supported projects focused on transportation innovation, sustainability, and climate adaptation strategy. At Duke, Tamsin also conducts research through Duke Deep Tech, where she explores the intersection of technology in policy. She is additionally involved in Duke Club Tennis and Duke's Project Waves Orientation Program. Outside of academics, she enjoys playing pickleball, watching TV, and cooking new recipes with her roommates.

Spandana Vagwala

Spandana Vagwala is an undergraduate research assistant for the STEPS Study at Duke University. She is majoring in Public Policy with minors in Computer Science and Spanish. Her research interests center on how policy shapes the financial and educational outcomes of immigrant communities—a focus she connects to her work with the STEPS team, which partners with many Latino families to understand how economic circumstances influence youth development. Beyond STEPS, Spandana is involved in migration research in Central America through Duke’s Bass Connections program. Outside of academics, she is a member of Duke’s multicultural dance team, Defining Movement, and Duke Lasya, an Indian classical dance team. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, painting, and exploring Durham.

Grace Carr

Consultant

Daniesha Hunter

Daniesha Hunter, M.S. is a 4th year PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh and a consultant for the STEPS study. She has experience on several prior studies collecting large longitudinal surveys using Qualtrics for remote participants. She formerly managed all aspects of screening, consent, recruitment and data collection for the Family Financial Dynamics (FIND) research study, and now advises the PI team and the project manager for the STEPS study. In addition to being in Dr. Votruba-Drzal's lab, Dani is also a doctoral fellow in the Race and Youth Development Research (RaYDR) Group, under Dr. James Huguley at the Center on Race and Social Problems. Dani earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Villanova University and her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Chatham University. In her free time, Dani enjoys baking, spending time with family, listening to books on audible, and spending time in her garden.

Alumni

Shaughnessa Richardson

Dorthea Adkins

Terrique Morris

Darin Fields