News

New Publication: A Learning Assessment to Increase Diversity in Academic Health Sciences

February 23rd, 2024, 5:00 PM EDT

Dr. Thurston and the team have identified 13 evidence-based strategies for advancing racial and ethnic equity in the academic health sciences through survey, in-depth interviews, and scoping review. This report comes at a time where DEI policies are being threatened, so we hope that researchers, scholars, and policymakers will interact with the report in order to further our effort of creaing equitable environemnts within the health sciences. Learn more about the research and strategies here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2815240 

CHANGE Lab Director, Dr. Idia Thurston, Recently Featured in 'Nature' Article

February 13th, 2024, 5:00 PM EDT

Culture wars in the United States are impacting the way that research is conducted. Dr. Thurston recently spoke to Emma Marris, from Nature, about her experience with anti-DEI legislation in Texas (e.g. Texas Bill, SB 17) and how that affected her research, ultimately leading to the decision to relocate the CHANGE Lab to Boston to continue her work. Learn more here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00393-1 

Announcing the Newest Student Advisory Board Member

December 13th, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT

One of our CHANGE Lab graduate students, Annisa Ahmed, was recently voted to serve on the Society of Pediatric psychology Student Advisory Board as the Advocacy Co-Chair! We're so excited to see her take on this new role!!!

CHANGE Lab Butterfly Takes 3rd place at TPA 2023!

Nov. 6th, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT

Veronika Croan, one of our amazing butterflies in the CHANGE Lab, placed third in the Texas Psychological Association Conference poster competition this past weekend. Her research focused on the association between parent-adolescent communication, community cohesion, and rule breaking behaviors among adolescents. We are very proud of her and this incredible accomplishment!!

New Publication: Advancing De-Implementation of Universal BMI Surveillance

Oct. 4, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT

The Body Mass Index is a tool that has been widely accepted and used across numerous contexts including clinical settings, schools, research, and even by employers. Despite its widespread use, there are several issues with the BMI that make it a harmful tool. In this research report, members of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) delve into the issues posed by the BMI, strategies for de-implementation, and how to advance past the measure. Read the full report here: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/report-bmi-surveillance-de-implementation/

Celebrating A Thesis Defense & Master's Degree

Sept. 22, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT

Danielle, who is currently a fourth year Clinical PhD student in the CHANGE Lab at Texas A&M University recently defended her thesis: "Multisystemic resilience and anxious-depressed symptoms in Black youth exposed to maternal syndemics: A Mixed-method study." Her thesis utilized a mixed-methods approach and was the first to do so utilizing data from our PaTH Kids Project. We're so proud of her and excited to see her future work!! 

Dissertation: Proposed. Celebrating One of Our Incredible Butterflies

Sept. 12, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT

Congratulations to Caitlyn, a 5th year Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology program at Texas A&M University. She recently passed her preliminary exam and dissertation proposal!! This represents one of the many accomplishments she has made, and we're so excited to see how she continues this great work! 

Big CHANGEs Ahead: Butterflies Migrate from Texas to Boston

Aug 21st, 2023, 5:00 PM EDT

It's official. The CHANGE Lab has migrated from Texas A&M University to Northeastern University in Boston, MA! Congratulations to Dr. Idia Thurston who, in addition to being the director of the CHANGE Lab, is now the Associate Director of the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research as well as professor in the Departments of Health Sciences and Applied Psychology in the Bouvé College of Health Sciences. We're so excited for this new chapter of the lab!