People

Dr. Patty Kuo

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Kuo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies and director of the Nebraska Strong Families lab. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2016. She then worked at the University of Notre Dame from 2016-2019, where she was first a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology and then a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology.

Dr. Kuo has spent over a decade studying fathers & families and is most well-known for her research on hormone changes that accompany father-child interactions. Her program of research is aimed at understanding the development and maintenance of healthy individuals and relationships within families. She has presented her findings all over the world and her work has appeared in national and international news outlets. Dr. Kuo draws inspiration for her research from across social science fields and enjoys designing studies to ask big-picture questions about family & child development. She is currently an Associate Editor for the international family studies journal, Family Process.

Email: pkuo2@unl.edu

Link to Google Scholar Page

Betty Chebitok

GRADUATE ASSISTANT

Betty Chebitok is a Kenyan citizen and a Master’s Student in Child Development and Early Childhood Education. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology in May 2022 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, her Master of Social Science in Educational Psychology in April 2018 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, her Bachelor of Social Science (Honors in Psychology) in April 2016 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and her Bachelor of Education Arts in August 2012 from Moi University in Kenya. Betty has researched university students’ sexual behaviors and their sexual risk prevention practices. Her research interests include but are not limited to sexual risk, contraceptive use, HIV testing, attachment in children, and parent-child interactions. In working in the Nebraska Strong Families Lab, Betty, being a trained educational psychologist, is acquiring a wealth of knowledge and skills on how things are in actual practice when working with children and their families, and healthy family functioning.

Maxwell Lottes

UCARE FELLOW

Max is a Junior at UNL studying psychology on the neuroscience path, with minors in Childhood, Youth, and Family studies and Biology. He is currently working on a UCARE project examining how emotional responses mediate the relationship between hormonal changes and behavior in parent-child interactions. 

Izy Corio

FYRE STUDENT

Izy is a freshman at UNL with an interest in psychology, forensics, and human development. She loves learning new things about the world we live in and how we can work to make it a better reality. Izy hopes to learn more about child development and psychology in order to better understand the impact it can have later in life.

Jiabin Lyu

GRADUATE STUDENT

Jiabin Lyu is a first-year PhD student in the Child Development/Early Childhood Education program in the Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies (CYAF). She earned her Master’s degree from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 

Her research interests focus on how children's emotions develop within the family context, particularly in relation to parent-child relationships and children's social-emotional learning (SEL), especially among preschoolers. She is also interested in conducting Emotion Coaching Interventions with parents of preschoolers to help them improve their ability to nurture their children's emotional skills and well-being. 

Peter Dossen

GRADUATE ASSISTANT

Peter C. Dossen is a PhD candidate in the Child Development/Early Childhood Education specialization program of the Department of Child Youth and Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is currently a 2024 scholar of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Towards 2044: Horowitz Scholar and Mentor Program. He holds a BSc in Nursing from William V. S. Tubman University, Liberia, and an MA in Child Development from the University of Haifa, Israel. Peter's research interests revolve around the mechanism linking the association among the intergenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), attachment, parenting, children's mental health, social-emotional development, and academic achievement in a post-war country. He has worked as an instructor at William V. S. Tubman University's Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education and also as a Registered Nurse at the Rocktown Kunokudi Clinic, where he held various roles, including officer in charge (OIC), Maternal and Child Health Focal person, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinician. His transition from clinical nursing practice to child development stemmed from witnessing the lack of educational opportunities for children in the clinic catchment communities where he was assigned. This experience ignited his passion to promote a safe, stable, and nurturing environment where young children and their families can thrive.
 

Madison Becker

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Madison is a junior majoring in Psychology. She enjoys learning and studying development and learning theories. After graduation, she plans to attend graduate school for Clinical Psychology.

Olivia Shultz

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Hi everyone! My name is Olivia Shultz and I am originally from Grand Island, Nebraska. I am a Sophomore majoring in Psychology, with two minors in Child Youth and Family Studies and Victimology. This is my first year with the Nebraska Strong Families Lab and I am super excited for the experience. 

Erica Reisher

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Erica is a junior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Child Youth and Family Studies. She enjoys working with elementary-aged kids at Cedars. After she graduates, she hopes to go to grad school for School Psychology.