Registration is non-refundable.

Session 1: 10:00am-12:00pm ET

Beth McQuaid, PhD, ABPP

Dr. McQuaid is Vice Chair of Academic Affairs and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (DPHB) and Professor of Pediatrics at Alpert Medical School, Brown University. Dr. McQuaid conducts her research and clinical activities at Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children's Hospital, where she is the Director of Child Psychology.  Her work focuses on pediatric disease management and adherence to medical regimens in the context of health disparities.  Dr. McQuaid is Director of the Division of Clinical Psychology in the DPHB at Brown, serving as the academic leader of the psychologists in the department and providing oversight of Clinical Psychology training at Brown.

Kathryn Birnie, PhD, RPsych

Dr. Katie Birnie, PhD, RPsych, is a Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Calgary where she leads Partnering For Pain, a research program striving towards quality equitable pain management for children through partnerships with youth, families, health professionals, policymakers, hospitals, and community organizations. Dr. Birnie is the Associate Scientific Director of Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), a Canadian national network mobilizing evidence-based solutions for children’s pain through coordination and collaboration. Dr. Birnie has published more than 125 scientific publications, including on acute and chronic pain assessment and management, and health services and systems design. She chaired the working group that developed the world’s first national health standard for Pediatric Pain Management in 2023 in partnership with SKIP and the Health Standards Organization (CAN/HSO 13200:2023). As of June 30, 2025 the standard has been downloaded more than 2,600 times from 78 countries. Dr. Birnie's work has been shared via CBC News, CTV News, Global News, the Washington Post, Radio Canada International, and The Globe and Mail, among others. She is a passionate advocate for integrating patients and families at the heart of health research, healthcare delivery, and health systems design. Dr. Birnie’s work is a testament to the power of partnership and the importance of patient-oriented research in transforming healthcare.

Kristine Durkin, PhD

Dr. Kristine Durkin is an Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University and a Research Scientist through the Bradley-Hasbro Children's Research Center at Rhode Island Hospital. She also serves as a pediatric psychologist at Hasbro Children's Hospital. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the West Virginia University and completed her APA-accredited predoctoral residency through Brown's Clinical Psychology Training Program. She also completed a one-year NIH T32 fellowship and a 2-year NIH F32 fellowship at Brown. Dr. Durkin’s research focuses on community-engaged approaches to improving health behaviors in youth, particularly around nutrition, physical activity, and self-management of chronic conditions. She is particularly interested in the development and implementation of pragmatic, equity-focused interventions that are co-developed with youth to reduce health disparities and improve care for pediatric populations.

Session 2: 1:00pm-3:00pm ET

Monica Mitchell, PhD

Dr. Monica Mitchell is a Professor of Pediatrics within the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology and the Assistant Vice President of Community Relations at Cincinnati Children’s. Dr. Mitchell also serves as the Co-Director of INNOVATIONS in Community Research and Evaluation. Across her roles, Dr. Mitchell collaborates with non-profit agencies, schools and businesses to advance pediatric and behavioral health. Dr. Mitchell also leads efforts to advance community engagement, community outreach, community giving and employee volunteerism across the institution. Through her leadership, supports Cincinnati Children’s reach to more than 100,000 children and families each year across the Greater Cincinnati region. Dr. Mitchell oversees the institution’s community investment, community health needs assessment and community benefit programs. Dr. Mitchell works closely with Cincinnati Children’s Mental and Behavioral Health Institute (MBHI) to support child and youth access to mental health services.

Dr. Mitchell is nationally known for her pediatric and community-based research. Dr. Mitchell’s current and past work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), CDC, and HRSA (Health Research Service Administration). Dr. Mitchell has more than 50 published papers in peer-reviewed articles in the areas of pediatric health, health equity, health ethics and community engagement. Dr. Mitchell served as the Inaugural leader of SPP’s Diversity Committee in 2012 (which later became SPP’s Diversity SIG). Dr. Mitchell served on Children Youth and Families Committee for APA (2009-2011), including serving as Chair, and as a member of various NIH Review Committees and Study Sections over the past 20 years. Dr. Mitchell received SPP’s 2016 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Diversity. Dr Mitchell currently has a joint appointment at the University of Cincinnati where she teaches and mentors psychology graduate students.

Dr. Mitchell’s most important role is the one she fills within her family. She is the proud wife of Ben, a life-long pharmacist, and they are parents of two amazing children. Bengy is a city planner who works for the city of Los Angeles, and Melanie, is a graduate student who works in healthcare.

Christina Salley, PhD

Chrissy Salley is a pediatric psychologist with expertise in delivering support and intervention to parents and caregivers of children with complex medical needs. She currently serves as Director of Clinician Engagement and Outreach at Courageous Parents Network, a national nonprofit organization that develops resources and programming for those caring for children with serious health conditions. Dr. Salley also collaborates with colleagues nationally and internationally on efforts to improve the illness experience for children and their families.

Sarah McCarthy, PhD, MPH, ABPP

Sarah Brand McCarthy, PhD, MPH is a pediatric psychologist and health services researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she serves as Director of Psychology for the Robert’s Program on Sudden Unexpected Death in Pediatrics. Her clinical and research work focuses on improving psychosocial care for children with serious medical illnesses and their families, with a particular emphasis on grief and bereavement. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience as a bereaved parent, Dr. Brand McCarthy leads efforts to develop and evaluate grief-informed, family-centered interventions. She is committed to advancing evidence-based practices through meaningful partnerships with families and communities.

Session 3: 3:30pm-5:30pm ET

Jessica Valenzuela, PhD, ABPP

Dr. Jessica Valenzuela is a Professor in the College of Psychology’s Department of Clinical and School Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. She is the Director of Pediatric Psychology Services within the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital’s Comprehensive Pediatric Diabetes Center and Multidisciplinary Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic, and co-founded Camp All Stars pediatric diabetes camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with partners from the American Diabetes Association and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. Dr. Valenzuela currently serves as the President of APA’s Division 54 – the Society of Pediatric Psychology.

Dr. Valenzuela’s clinical and scholarly interests focus on pediatric health disparities, challenges in transitioning to adult care, family participation in care and shared decision-making, and community-based participatory models of research. Dr. Valenzuela’s community partnerships focus on consultation to develop and expand community health promotion programs, increase the cultural competency of providers, and improve the quality of care to children and families

Siddika Mulchan, PsyD

Dr. Mulchan is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and a pediatric psychologist in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Connecticut Children’s. She is passionate about developing innovative systems-level interventions for underserved youth. Dr. Mulchan is a recent recipient of a K23 Career Development Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for her research on targeting provider behavior in order to improve health outcomes for youth with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Naadira Upshaw, PsyD, ABPP

Dr. Naadira C. Upshaw is an Assistant Professor in the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and a board-certified Senior Pediatric Psychologist at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. She is also the Clinical Director of the Aflac Psychology and Neuropsychology Department and the Committee Chair of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) for the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. She serves as an elected board member as the current Diversity Member-At-Large for the Society of Pediatric Psychology, which is Division 54 of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Upshaw has many interests including the provision of inclusive and culturally humble and sensitive care to all patients with particular attention to justice, psychosocial hematology and oncology, training and education in pediatric psychology, and EDI related program development and facilitation. She serves in many capacities on several EDI specific committees and groups across the institutional, regional, and national levels. She has also constructed and provided diversity related talks and training for various organizations and groups within her academic community, as well as helped to develop a diversity dialogue facilitation training and manual that has trained several trainees and faculty facilitators within the academic medical setting. She is also professionally and academically interested in understanding the high cost of the minority tax on underrepresented minority faculty within academia. Dr. Upshaw is passionate about training and has written about the role of cultural humility and process-oriented supervision for underrepresented minority learners.

Speakers reported no Conflicts of Interest.

View the 2025 FVC Program

Session 1: 10:00am-12:00pm ET (2 CE - APA and NY-PSY)

Plenary Presentation: Community Engagement and Implementation of Home and School-based Asthma Interventions
Beth McQuaid, PhD, ABPP

Learning objectives:

• Identify strategies for engagement with community collaborators to promote the implementation of evidence-based asthma interventions.
• Identify barriers and generate solutions for sustainment of community partnerships for long-term implementation of evidence-based programs.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Patient and Community Partnership is Essential to the Advancement of Pediatric Psychology Research, Care, and Policy
Kathryn Birnie, PhD, RPsych

Learning objectives:

• Describe a spectrum of partnership roles for children and youth, family members, health professionals, policymakers, and community organizations in pediatric psychology research, healthcare, and policy.
• List relevant principles for engaging in ethical, equitable, and inclusive partnerships in pediatric psychology research, healthcare, and policy.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Youth as Co-Designers: Building Stronger Community Health Interventions Together
Kristine Durkin, PhD

Learning objectives:

• Utilize practical strategies for authentically incorporating youth voices into intervention within youth-serving organizations, with an emphasis on equity and shared decision-making.
• Apply key principles of co-design of interventions in collaboration with youth community partners, including how to foster trust, sustain meaningful engagement, and center youth leadership.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Session 2: 1:00pm-3:00pm ET (2 CE - APA and NY-PSY)

Plenary Presentation: Advancing Pediatric and Behavioral Health Through Community Engagement and Participatory Research
Monica Mitchell, PhD

Learning objectives:

• Identify best practices in community engagement and participatory research and how practices apply to pediatric psychology clinical and research projects.
• Discuss published case examples that support inclusion and community engagement in pediatric psychology clinical and research projects.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Engaging Patient Organizations as Partners in Research, Programming, Education, and Advocacy: Endless Possibilities
Christina Salley, PhD

Learning objectives:

• List at least two benefits of collaborating with patient organizations.
• Describe how patient organizations can be leveraged to support research, education, training, or program development.

Learner Level: Intermediate

From Subjects to Stakeholders: Integrating Bereaved Parent Voices in Pediatric Psychology Research
Sarah McCarthy, PhD, MPH, ABPP

Learning objectives:

• Identify at least three evidence-based strategies for meaningfully engaging bereaved parents throughout the research process, including approaches to recruitment, distress monitoring, and dissemination of findings.
• Demonstrate the ability to apply best practices for ethically and sensitively involving bereaved parents in research, by evaluating a case scenario and proposing specific actions to support participant well-being and engagement.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Session 3: 3:30pm-5:30pm ET (2 CE - APA and NY-PSY)

Plenary Presentation: Reimagining Evidence and Equity in Pediatric Psychology: What Counts as Science and for Whom?
Jessica Valenzuela, PhD, ABPP

Learning objectives:

• Identify 2-3 limitations of traditional research paradigms in addressing health disparities among racially and ethnically minoritized youth.
• Explain how incorporating patient, stakeholder, and community voices into research design can enhance the relevance and equity of evidence-based practices.
• Apply strategies for integrating community-partnered, equity-centered approaches into their own clinical, research, or training work in pediatric psychology.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Developing an Intervention to Reduce Provider Implicit Bias in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease
Siddika Mulchan, PsyD

Learning objectives:

• Discuss the potential impact of provider implicit bias on youth with sickle cell disease.
• Describe an intervention intended to reduce implicit bias for pediatric sickle cell disease providers.

Learner Level: Beginner to Intermediate

The Role of the Citizen Psychologist During Challenging Times
Naadira Upshaw, PsyD, ABPP

Learning objectives:

• Describe the role of a citizen Psychologist/ advocate within the context of academia during a challenging sociopolitical climate and pandemic.
• Implement basic tenets of a model of diversity dialogue facilitation training.

Learner Level: Designed to apply broadly across all levels.

Attendees will receive 2 CE credits for attending the entirety of each session live (a total of 6 CE for attending the entirety of all three sessions).

The Society of Pediatric Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Society of Pediatric Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its contents.

The Society of Pediatric Psychology (Division 54 of the American Psychological Association) is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0279.

A pre-Conference workshop will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 4:00pm-6:00pm ET.

This workshop will create an opportunity for smaller group interaction with some of our conference speakers. Workshop discussions will center around thoughtfully engaging in community centered research, developing community partnerships, integration of community engagement at different career stages and pathways, and seeking support for community engaged research. Registration is limited to the first 100 registrants.

2025 Fall Virtual Conference Workshop: Practical Strategies for Developing Strong Community Partnerships in a Challenging Time 

2 CE (APA and NY-PSY)

Presented by Beth McQuaid, PhD, ABPP, Katie Birnie, PhD, RPsych, Monica Mitchell, PhD, Chrissy Salley, PhD, and Anna Hood, PhD

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain strategies for engaging community collaborators in research and clinical partnerships.
2. Apply community-partnered, equity-centered strategies to research, clinical practices, or training approaches in pediatric psychology.

Learner Level: Designed to be applicable to learners at all levels.

Registration:

SPP's Virtual Internships and Fellowships on Parade will be held on Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 6:00pm-7:00pm ET.

This event aims to be an informal opportunity for SPP students, trainees, and pediatric psychology programs to interact and connect. Programs will have the opportunity to host virtual rooms for students and trainees to drop-in and learn more about the program. By using a virtual platform, this event creates an equitable option for programs to easily connect with students and trainees, including those who may not be able to attend the SPP Annual Conference in-person. Please contact info@pedpsych.org with questions.

Registration for programs has ended.

The following programs will be participating:

Internships:

Akron Children's Hospital
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Brown University
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory School of Medicine
Children's Hospital Colorado
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital of Orange County
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Children's National Hospital (Washington, DC)
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital
Indiana University School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
Kennedy Krieger Department of Behavioral Psychology
Mailman Center
MetroHealth Medical Center
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Nemours Children's Health
Ochsner Children's
Phoenix Children's
Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, WVU, WVUM
Rush University Medical Center Chicago
Texas Children's Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine
The Hospital for Sick Children
University of Chicago Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Mississippi Medical Center

Fellowships:

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Children's Hospital Colorado
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital of Orange County
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Children's Medical Center Dallas
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital
Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone
Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
Kennedy Krieger Department of Behavioral Psychology
Marshfield Medical Center
Mayo Clinic
MetroHealth Medical Center
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Nemours Children's Health, Orlando
Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville
Ochsner Children's
Phoenix Children's
Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, WVU, WVUM
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Stanford School of Medicine
The Hospital for Sick Children
University of Chicago Medicine
University of Kentucky HealthCare/Kentucky Children's Hospital
University of Louisville School of Medicine
University of Mississippi Medical Center

The Virtual Student Mentorship Lunch will be Friday, September 19, 12:00pm-1:00pm ET!

This event aims to be an opportunity for SPP students and trainees to meet and network with leaders in the field of pediatric psychology. Hosted by the SPP Student Advisory Board, this is a great opportunity for students and trainees who were unable to attend the SPP Annual Conference Mentorship Lunch in-person. Participating mentors will be matched with mentees and efforts will be made to group students at similar training stages and interests. Please indicate your interest in participating in the Virtual Student Mentorship Lunch when registering for the Fall Virtual Conference.