Article archive / August 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 12. Source pages: 1, 13.
University of New Orleans (UNO) Psychology Professor, Dr. Laura Scaramella has been named Chairperson of a National Institute of Health (NIH) peer review group. She will oversee the Psychosocial Develop- ment, Risk and Prevention study section of the Center for Scientific Review, according to a July UNO press release.
The news release noted that the group that Scaramella will lead is a type of gateway for NIH grant applications and for the review for their scientific merit. Her appointment begins September 1 and she will serve for approximately two years. The report noted that her group will focus on the identification of risk and protective factions, the development of problem behaviors, and the design and assessment of interventions.
Scaramella told UNO press, "I am honored to be selected as chair. As chair, my goal is to preserve the integrity of the peer review process. The peer review process is one mechanism by which scientifically critical research is advanced."
Scaramella is a professor of psychology and graduate coordinator for the psychology department. At UNO, she is the Graduate Coordinator and leads the Families in Transition Lab, with on-going projects: Bambini Project, Mothers and Preschoolers Study, and the Family Transitions Project.
“Dr. Scaramella's research focuses on social, genetic, and biological mechanisms affecting the parenting quality and the emergence of behavior problems during early childhood. Her works seeks to uncover how social contextual stressors, like economic disadvantage and neighborhood danger, and children’s temperamental characteristics affect parenting quality and children’s behavioral and social adjustment. Towards this end, Dr. Scaramella is actively engaged in several longitudinal research studies.”
Scaramella is also working with the Healthy Gulf Coast/Healthy Communities consortia, a group of researchers from across the gulf coast that are examining the impact of DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill on families and communities. Her focus is to help understand the impact of the oil spill on the quality of family relationships and on children’s social adjustment.
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