Category: Faculty Partner Research

Leanne Nieforth – A study in a veterinary college examined the impact of a dogs-at-work program on staff wellbeing and resilience. While participants and non-participants showed similar overall mental health outcomes, staff who engaged with the program reported increased social interaction, improved mental health, and opportunities for physical activity. Findings suggest that workplace dog programs may support resilience through interpersonal, environmental, and regulatory benefits.

Meingold Chan is uncovering how culture and behavior interact with biology to shape children’s development at the cellular level. By connecting social-emotional experiences with epigenetic processes, this work offers new insight into how early environments can influence long-term health and well-being. The research highlights the importance of integrating social, cultural and biological perspectives to better understand human development and inform more effective interventions.

Maria Marshall – A Purdue Agricultural Economics Report introduces the Caring Stress Index as a way to better understand caregiving-related strain across Indiana and the Midwest. Using regional survey data, the index captures how caregiving responsibilities affect emotional, physical, and financial well-being, offering new insights into community health and support needs across rural and urban populations.

Zoe Taylor – A mixed-methods study of rural Latine students in the Midwest reveals how language proficiency, executive functioning, and behavioral challenges shape academic outcomes. Findings show that behavioral difficulties linked to language barriers and social stress can hinder learning, while strong executive functioning supports academic success. The study underscores the need for culturally responsive, bilingual interventions that foster resilience and mental health for Latine youth.

Ellen Ernst Kossek – New research shows that formal work–family policies alone are not enough to close gender career gaps. By fostering a workplace climate that values employees’ personal lives, organizations can reduce personal life stigma and improve retention and promotion outcomes for women.

Sooyeon Jeong – Friendly robots, the ones people love to love, are quirky: R2-D2, C-3PO, WALL-E, BB-8, Marvin, Roz and Baymax. They’re emotional, prone to panic or bossy, empathetic and able to communicate like humans do — even when they communicate in only beeps and bloops. At Purdue University, Sooyeon Jeong, robot communication and behavior expert, is working to make robots as friendly and helpful as possible in nonfictional settings.

Arielle Borovsky – Deaf children acquiring American Sign Language (ASL) perceive both linguistic and non-linguistic information through the visual mode. Thus, signing deaf children face a unique task in word learning, in that mapping objects to referents requires careful allocation of visual attention.

Susan South – The 10th edition of Psychopathology and Mental Health brings together leading scholars Thomas Oltmanns, Robert Emery, Kelsie Forbush, and Susan South to explore the science and lived experience of mental health. The updated edition integrates biological, psychological, and social perspectives on psychopathology while incorporating hundreds of new studies and expanded coverage of diagnostic approaches and mood disorder symptoms.

Susan South – A new edition of Psychopathology and Mental Health brings together leading scholars to explore the biological, psychological and social dimensions of mental disorders, integrating the latest research on diagnosis and treatment.

Kristine Marceau – A new study from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort shows that high maternal stress during pregnancy is linked to increased ADHD risk and symptoms in children. The research highlights the importance of stress reduction during pregnancy to support healthy child development.