Center for Families announces 2026 Funding Recipients

Peggy and David Dunlap Strengthening Family Resilience Grant

Sybil Cutler, Human Development and Family Science
Examining Associations of Multi-Level Factors and Resilience through Sibling Relationships across Parental Deployment
(Advisor: Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, PhD, HDFS)

Military families navigate ongoing stressors across the military life cycle, including deployment, separation, and reintegration. These experiences have the potential to shape family relationships, particularly among siblings who encounter these challenges together. While prior research has documented changes in sibling relationships among children in military-connected families, less is known about the processes that drive these changes.

With support of The Dunlap Strengthening Family Resilience Grant, this project will examine factors associated with resilience, conceptualized here as sibling relationship quality. Using a multi-level framework, the study will consider how dyadic, family-level, and military-specific contexts will contribute to resilience among youth in military families.

Funding for this work will also support dissemination through professional channels and the development of resources to better support military-connected youth. By focusing on relational and contextual influences across deployment experiences, this research will advance understanding of resilience in military families and address key gaps in the literature.

This grant is possible due to the generosity of Peggy and David Dunlap.

Bob L. and Joyce Beery Miles Research Enhancement Grant

Bukola Peters, PhD, Public Health, to support the work of undergraduate, Marley Sharpe, Biomedical Health Sciences Major
Family Voices in Tobacco Retail Environments

Families encounter tobacco and vaping marketing in their daily environments, including near schools, gas stations, and shopping areas. These exposures have the potential to shape family perceptions of health and tobacco use, as well as influence family discussions and attitudes toward prevention. While prior research has examined the effects of tobacco marketing, less is known about how families interpret these experiences and how they may translate into support for policy change.

With support from the Bob L. and Joyce Beery Miles Undergraduate Research Enhancement Grant, this project will examine how families experience and interpret tobacco and vaping marketing, and whether recognizing these environmental risks will be associated with greater support for local tobacco control policies. Using a community-engaged, participatory approach, the study will apply Photovoice to capture family perspectives and consider how environmental, family-level, and policy-related contexts contribute to health perceptions and advocacy readiness.

Funding for this work will support undergraduate research training, project implementation, and dissemination through professional and policy-oriented channels. By centering family voices and lived experiences, this research will advance understanding of how environmental factors shape family health behaviors and engagement in community change, while addressing key gaps in the literature.

This grant is possible due to the generosity of Bob and Joyce Miles.

Studorschka Interdisciplinary Grant

Moon Durham-West, Human Development and Family Science
Sleep in Young Children with Angelman Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome
(Advisors: A.J. Schwichtenberg, PhD, HDFS; Mark Shen, PhD, Psychiatry & Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Angelman Syndrome (AS) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) are neurodevelopmental conditions commonly associated with significant sleep challenges in early life. These sleep difficulties can affect not only child development but also family well-being, contributing to increased parental stress and disrupted sleep. Although caregivers often report concerns within the first two years, less is known about how sleep develops during infancy and toddlerhood in these populations.

With support from the Studorschka Interdisciplinary Research Grant, this project will examine sleep development in infants and toddlers with AS and FXS. Using both objective (Emfit) and parent-reported daily diary measures, the study will assess whether children meet expected developmental markers of sleep maturation and how their sleep patterns compare to case-matched typically developing peers. This interdisciplinary approach will integrate perspectives on child development, health, and family functioning to better understand early sleep trajectories.

Funding for this work will support interdisciplinary research training and dissemination through academic and professional channels. By identifying where sleep development aligns with or diverges from typical patterns, this research will inform targeted interventions to improve sleep quality, ultimately enhancing well-being for both children and their families and addressing key gaps in the literature on early development in neurodevelopmental conditions.

Sophie Miller, Human Development and Family Science
PARKS & REC: Partnerships Amplifying Research on Kids’ STEM and Reimagining Engaging Communities
(Advisors: Sarah Eason, PhD, HDFS; Laura Bofferding, PhD, Math Education, Curriculum and Instruction)

Disparities in math achievement emerge as early as kindergarten, indicating that math learning begins before children enter formal schooling. Early opportunities for families to engage in STEM learning are crucial to promoting equitable academic success. This project builds on an existing partnership with West Lafayette Parks and Recreation, focusing on co-designing accessible and scalable STEM-focused micro-Playful Learning Landscapes (mPLLs).

With support from the Studorschka Interdisciplinary Research Grant, this project will shift focus to capture the lived experiences and perspectives of local families. A survey will be distributed to families with young children to gather information about informal STEM learning opportunities in the community. By centering family voices throughout the research process, the study aims to ensure that mPLLs are accessible, effective, and designed to support STEM development in diverse settings.

Funding will support interdisciplinary research training, project implementation, and dissemination of findings to academic and community audiences. This work advances understanding of family engagement in informal STEM learning and aligns with the Center for Families’ mission to strengthen families through research that bridges disciplines and promotes community impact.

These grants are possible due to the generosity of Drs. Travis Dorsch and Breanna Studenka.

Dr. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth Graduate Student Research Recognition

Miaomiao Zhang, Human Development and Family Science
Learning Inequality at Home: Whether and How Children Internalize and Reproduce Unequal Household Labor
(Advisor: Laura Elenbaas, PhD, HDFS)

Household labor is essential to family functioning and work–family balance, yet it remains disproportionately carried by women, contributing to persistent gender inequalities in time, earnings, and opportunities. Although these patterns are well documented, less is known about how children perceive and internalize the division of labor in their own families and how these perceptions may contribute to the reproduction of inequality across generations.

With support from the Dr. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth Graduate Student Research Recognition Fund, this project will examine whether and how children’s experiences and beliefs about household labor will shape their expectations for family roles. Using a child-friendly survey grounded in Social Domain Theory, the study will assess children’s observations of labor division in their own families, their judgments and reasoning about fairness, and how they allocate chores in a hypothetical family. Analyses will consider whether children’s lived experiences predict patterns in their expectations, and whether their beliefs and reasoning help explain these associations.

Funding for this work will support graduate student research training and dissemination through academic and community-focused channels. By increasing understanding of how gendered labor patterns are perceived and potentially reproduced, this research will inform efforts to support more equitable divisions of labor and strengthen family and community well-being, addressing key gaps in the literature on work and family dynamics.

This grant is possible due to the support from the Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth Graduate Student Research Recognition Endowment.

Purdue Extension Program Support Grant

Caroline Everidge – Extension Educator, Allen County
Family Dinner Nights: Drug Court Edition

This program will provide Drug Court participants, graduates, and their families opportunities to cook and share meals together while participating in research-based HHS educational sessions. In partnership with the Huntington County Drug Court and United with Love, the program uses shared family meals to strengthen relationships, support recovery, and improve communication, consistency, and connectedness. Families are also encouraged to continue shared mealtimes at home as part of ongoing recovery support.

Rebecca Payne – HHS Extension Educator, Lawrence County
Family Time! It’s What’s for Dinner

This family-centered celebration marks the conclusion of an eight-week Junior Master Gardener program delivered through Purdue Extension in partnership with the Madison Community Grocery Project and local elementary schools. Students complete hands-on gardening education and families gather to share a garden-inspired meal featuring produce grown in school gardens. The event reinforces healthy eating habits, strengthens family connections, and encourages continued gardening and cooking at home.

Brit Copeland – Senior Extension Educator/4-H Youth Development/Agriculture & Natural Resources/CED, Jefferson County
Garden to Family Table Celebration Night

This program helps families build skills and confidence in preparing healthy, affordable meals together. Through meal kits, hands-on cooking lessons, and practical strategies, families practice planning and preparing nutritious dinners while strengthening communication and connection. Community partners, including the Lost River Co-op Café, support the project by providing fresh, seasonal ingredients for family meal kits.

Abigail Creigh – HHS Lead Extension Educator, Noble County
Family Dinner Project-focused initiative integrated within a Cooking Matters® nutrition education program

This initiative integrates a family dinner-focused component into the Cooking Matters® nutrition education program to support low-income parents and caregivers. The program strengthens family mealtime routines while building skills in affordable meal preparation, food safety, and cooking. Partnerships with local food pantries and the Noble County Extension Homemakers help expand access to ingredients, resources, and nutrition education that support healthier family meals at home.

CFF Extension Program Support Grants support Purdue Extension Health and Human Sciences efforts that work directly with communities across Indiana to strengthen family well-being. The grants support community-engaged projects that turn research into real-world impact.

Projects emphasize collaboration with local partners, center family experiences, and address key challenges in areas such as health, education, and economic stability, advancing Purdue’s land-grant mission and the Center for Families’ commitment to supporting families across Indiana.

Center for Families Faculty Fellowship

Amber Neal-Stanley, PhD, Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education
“It Takes a Village”: Supporting Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Childhood through a Culturally-Affirming Parent Education Program

Black children begin noticing and making meaning of race from infancy, with racial attitudes and biases forming by early childhood. However, few parenting programs explicitly support Black families in navigating early racial socialization in developmentally appropriate and culturally affirming ways. In Indiana, where Black children face persistent educational inequities and disproportionate involvement with child welfare systems, early family-centered interventions are particularly urgent.

With support from the Center for Families Faculty Fellowship, this project will develop and implement The Parent Village, a six-month, community-based parenting education initiative designed for Black caregivers of children ages 3–5 in Tippecanoe County. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study will engage 20–25 caregivers in interviews to document current racial socialization practices and challenges. These findings will guide a series of six workshops led by Black early childhood experts, focusing on culturally responsive racial socialization, parent racial identity, and family-centered activities. Children’s emerging racial attitudes will be measured before and after the program using the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure II, alongside qualitative data from parents and facilitators.

By centering Black parents as experts and leveraging community knowledge, The Parent Village advances a culturally sustaining model of early childhood family engagement. The project will inform future efforts to scale and disseminate effective strategies that strengthen family–school–community partnerships and promote positive racial identity development in early childhood, aligning closely with the Center for Families’ mission to support thriving families through innovative, equity-focused research.

This fellowship is possible due to the support from the Robert O. and Zelma C Swaim Memorial Endowment.

Lorene Burkhart Award for Excellence in Research about Families

Patricia Thomas, PhD, Sociology, College of Liberal Arts
Early-Life Parental Affection, Social Relationships in Adulthood, and Later-Life Cognitive Function

Dr. Patricia Thomas’ study explores how early-life parental affection influences health and cognitive function across the lifespan. Using longitudinal data, the research shows that adults who experienced higher levels of parental warmth in childhood tend to develop stronger social relationships in adulthood, particularly with family. These supportive social networks, in turn, are associated with better cognitive functioning in later life. The study highlights the long-term impact of nurturing family environments and the critical role of social connections in promoting well-being across the life course.

Thomas, P. A., Teas, E., Friedman, E., Barnes, L. L., Sauerteig-Rolston, M. R., & Ferraro, K. F. (2026). Early-life parental affection, social relationships in adulthood, and later-life cognitive function. Journal of aging and health, 38(1-2), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643241303589

The Lorene Burkhart Award for Excellence in Research about Families at Purdue University recognizes outstanding, peer-reviewed research by faculty that advances understanding of family relationships, systems, and well-being. Administered by the Center for Families, the award honors innovative and impactful scholarship across disciplines, with recipients selected through a competitive review process and awarded a monetary prize. It reflects a commitment to supporting research that strengthens families and contributes to healthier communities.

The award is named in honor of Lorene McCormick Burkhart, a visionary alumna, civic leader, and philanthropist whose transformative gift established the Center for Families. Her lifelong dedication to improving the lives of families continues to inspire this recognition, reflecting her belief that research can play a vital role in building stronger, healthier communities.

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2026 Members of Review Committees

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Thank you to our Advocates!

*Denotes Charter Advocates