Mary K. Lynch

Mary K. Lynch, M.A. is a fourth year graduate student in the Medical/Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham under the mentorship of Burel Goodin, Ph.D. Mary’s areas of research interest include examining correlates of poor health-related quality of life in children living with gastrointestinal diseases and the effects of disordered sleep on children’s health. Recently, she was able to procure funding to support her research efforts as a TL1 pre-doctoral trainee in the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences Program in Comparative Effectiveness and Patient Centered Outcomes Research.  As a TL1 trainee, Mary has had the opportunity to establish collaborations with many distinguished faculty across the country.  Her dissertation is examining the associations among sleep, pain, and internalizing symptoms in children with the gastrointestinal disease, Eosinophilic Esophagitis. 

Mary is recognized as an outstanding student who has made contributions to the field of pediatric psychology through research, clinical work, teaching, and service.  Mary has presented her research at national and local conferences and has collaborated on multiple published manuscripts.   She is a participant in the Pain in Children’s Health (PICH) research training initiative.  Mary is also a part of the Network of Campus Representatives for Division 54.   Clinically, Mary has gained experiences with a number of pediatric populations in medical settings through consult and liaison work, the Intensive Feeding Program, solid organ pre-transplant evaluations, and behavioral sleep medicine.

In the future, Mary plans to pursue a career in pediatric psychology at an academic medical center. As a scientist-practitioner, she hopes to establish a program of research that evaluates the variables associated with resiliency and risk factors predicting health-related quality of life in pediatric populations, specifically within those experiencing pain. She plans to continue to contribute to the field of pediatric psychology through clinical practice, research, and active participation in Division 54.