Overview
Emmy Reilly (she/her/hers) is a Research Scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy on the Durham Navigation Study with Dr. Ken Dodge. She is also working on a study examining the effect of the war on young people’s stress in Ukraine. Dr. Reilly earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, where she worked with Dr. Megan Gunnar. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a Research Coordinator at Boston Children’s Hospital with Dr. Charles Nelson. She received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she completed her honors thesis with Drs. Jennifer McDermott and Maureen Perry-Jenkins.
Dr. Reilly is a developmental psychologist whose program of research aims to understand how interpersonal relationships between primary caregivers and their young children are shaped by psychological and biological processes and adversity and, in turn, influence children’s development. She integrates developmental and prevention science to examine 1) how a parent’s cognitions, emotions, and stress regulation influence parenting behavior and child development in the first years of life, 2) how systems of oppression (e.g., racism, classism, heterosexism) and a parent’s history of childhood maltreatment shape these processes, and 3) how family programs and policies impact the parent-child relationship and equity in child development. Because compassion for oneself and others demonstrates benefits for stress regulation and close relationships, her recent work has examined the role of parent compassion, self-compassion, and compassion from others in parent-child relationships
Dr. Reilly has taught five semesters of undergraduate courses in Introduction to Child Development and Adolescent Psychology at the University of Minnesota. She has also given guest lectures on LGBTQIA2S+ families and youth in child policy courses. She is honored to have mentored 14 student researchers, including serving as a mentor for the TRIO McNair Scholars, Multicultural Summer Research Opportunity, and Next Generation Psychology Scholars programs for students from backgrounds systematically excluded from science. In her service work, she currently serves on the Support, Access, Friendship, and Engagement (SAFE) committee of the Duke Postdoctoral Association and on the advocacy committee of Developmental Scientists for Climate Action.
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