Welcome New PRC Members
Jamie Grilz Joins the HYD-PRC as Deputy Director
Grilz comes to the HYD-PRC with a robust history and wealth of expertise in the fields of youth development and sexual health. Grilz is the former Director of Education and Outreach at Planned Parenthood North Central States where she oversaw operations of her team throughout Minnesota and North Dakota. She worked at Planned Parenthood for 15 years where she dedicated her time to developing her skills as a sex educator, facilitator, and trainer; as well as managing operations. She will bring extensive knowledge in grant administration, managing complex budgets, community partnership building, and community engagement. Self described as a lifelong sex educator, Grilz’s career aspirations are to expand access to sex education utilizing a reproductive justice lens.
HYD-PRC adds Program Evaluator Angeline Gacad
Prior to joining the HYD-PRC team, Gacad served as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Prevention Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Washington Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control. During her time at Washington University, she took a semester off to pursue a Fulbright Scholarship in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. This experience inspired her newest research interest in adolescent and young adult health. Gacad also has research interests in social determinants of health and unmet social needs, dissemination and implementation science, health equity, and spatial epidemiology.
PRC Faculty & Staff Highlights
“If Someone Has It, I’m Gonna Hit It!” Beckman and Colleagues Explore Vaping Among Minnesota Teens
HYD-PRC Senior Evaluator Kara Beckman, MA, and community colleagues published the article, “If Someone Has It, I’m Gonna Hit It”: Lessons Learned from Minnesota Teens about Vaping in Health Promotion Practice. The authors were also invited to participate in a podcast discussing the lessons learned from their focus groups and classroom facilitations, in addition to talking about varying perspectives on e-cigarettes, vaping and cigarettes, and the urgent need to find ways to reach teens who feel they are invincible.
Jordan Awarded Funding to Explore “Teacher Field School”
HYD-PRC faculty Cathy Jordan, PhD, LP, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and her collaborators from Freshwater and Hamline University were awarded $200,000 from the Manitou Fund to develop and pilot test the “Teacher Field School”, a year-long, experiential cohort program. Elementary and middle school teachers and their administrators will learn to utilize nature-based learning pedagogy across the curriculum to enhance academic, development, health, and mental health and nature connectedness outcomes.
Jordan Attends UN Sponsored Global Climate Negotiations
HYD-PRC faculty Cathy Jordan PhD, LP was invited to attend the Conference of the Parties global climate negotiations sponsored by the United Nations, in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021. Jordan was elected to lead a 29-person delegation of UMN faculty, staff, and graduate students at this conference.
McMorris Co-PI of CDC PRC Special Interest Project Focused on Pyramid Mentoring
HYD-PRC faculty Barbara McMorris, PhD, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing, and Katie Arlinghaus, PhD, MS, RD, Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, were recently awarded a 2-year, CDC-PRC Special Interest Project grant. Their project, Discover U, will focus on implementing a novel pyramid mentoring model that integrates an evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum with an out-of-school time physical activity program in the Columbia Heights (MN) School District. The Discover U program aims to support students’ physical and psychosocial healthy and healthy development.
Shlafer Invited to Talk at NIH’s Behavioral and Social Science Research Festival
HYD-PRC faculty Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, presented “Enhanced Perinatal Programs for People in Prisons” at the National Institute of Health’s Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Festival in November 2021. In her talk, Shlafer focused on the importance of incarcerated womens’ health during pregnancy and immediately following birth.
Shlafer Promoted to Associate Professor
HYD-PRC faculty Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, was promoted to Associate Professor in the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School. Shlafer’s research focuses on understanding the developmental outcomes of children and families with multiple risk factors. She is particularly interested in children with parents in prison, as well as programs and policies that impact families affected by incarceration. Shlafer serves as the evaluation team leader within the HYD-PRC.