Christine McWayne, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Post Docs and Graduate Students

Former Post Docs and Graduate Students

Research Assistants

Former Postdocs

Nan Xiao

Post Doctoral Scholar, T. Denny Sanford Harmony Institute
Arizona State University
Email

Education
Ph.D. 2022, The University of Hong Kong, Developmental Psychology
Adviser: Dr. Xiao Zhang, Dr Man Tak Yuen

M.S.S. 2017, The University of Hong Kong, Psychology
Adviser: Dr. Antoinette Lee

B.B.A. 2011, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
Major: Accounting and Finance

Research Interests
My research interests are broadly focused on understanding how factors how contextual factors, mainly social and relational, affect early childhood learning and development for populations experiencing marginalization. Having observed early childhood education in diverse settings in Hong Kong, the United States, and Mexico, I am especially interested in examining the contextual factors shaping children’s social interactions with the aim of creating a supportive environment for positive social interactions. In the future, I am interested in developing interventions focusing on co-constructed strategies for building capacity in children’s supporting networks through genuine partnerships with educators and parents.

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Wendy Ochoa

Assistant Professor, Child and Family Development
San Diego State University
Email

Education
Ph.D. 2019, University of California at Irvine Education with a specialization in Human Development in Context
Mentor: Dr. Stephanie M. Reich

M.A. 2016, University of California at Irvine
Adviser: Dr. Stephanie M. Reich

B.A. 2013, California State University of Los Angeles, Psychology
Mentor: Dr. Kaveri Subrahmanyam
Concentration: Bilingual language development among preschoolers

Research Interests
My research interests are broadly focused on understanding how factors such as socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, language, media, and the home environment influence parenting and child development among families with young children from ethnic minorities, particularly Latino parents. I further aim to utilize this research to provide socioeconomically and linguistically diverse parents with a set of culturally sensitive tools that empowers and supports them in fostering their children’s bilingual language development and academic success.

Former Graduate Students

Julie Segovia

Vice President, Research, Policy, & Learning
HopeWell
Email

Education
Ph.D. 2024, Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

M.S. 2016, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Adviser: Dr. Margaret Kjelgaard

B.A. 2010, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Major: English, Psychology

Internship
Doctoral intern at Child Trends in the Child Welfare & Early Childhood Departments

Research Interests
My research interests include the social, emotional, and academic development of children and youth impacted by the child welfare system and issues of social justice in the child welfare space. Included in this is a deep interest in interpretive research traditions as a tool for including the voices of those with lived foster care experience. As a person with lived experience in foster care, I have experienced firsthand many of the foster care-specific barriers to post-secondary education, safe and stable housing, and relational permanence, and care deeply about removing these barriers through innovative and equitable research, policy, and practice change.

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Lok-Wah Li

Research and Evaluation Manager
Boston Children’s Museum
Email

Education
Ph.D. 2022, Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

M.A. 2014, Tufts University, Child Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

B.A. 2008, Brandeis University
Major: Psychology
Minors: Education Studies; Language and Linguistics

Internships
Doctoral Intern at Somerville Family Learning Collaborative, Somerville Public Schools, Somerville, MA
Doctoral Intern at Boston Children’s Museum, Child Development Department, Boston, MA

Research Interests
My research interests stem from my background as an immigrant from Hong Kong, as well as my experiences working in preschool and children’s museum settings in the US. I seek to understand childrearing among culturally diverse families from a ground-up, strength-based perspective. My dissertation explores how multiple caregivers in Chinese heritage families consider, negotiate, and implement daily childrearing practices related to preschool children’s learning and school readiness. I wish to center the voices of caregivers from low-income communities to highlight narratives on resilience and strength in childrearing, illustrating again that “it takes a village to raise a child.”

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Maria Cristina (Cricket) Limlingan

Research Scientist
Cultivate Learning, University of Washington
Email

Education
Ph.D. 2016, Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

M.A. 2007, University of Pennsylvania, Educational Policy
Adviser: Dr. Margaret Goertz

B.A. 2001, Ateneo de Manila University
Major: Psychology

Internships
Doctoral Intern at Abt Associates, Cambridge, MA
Doctoral Intern at Education Development Center, Manila, Philippines

Research Interests
Dr. Maria Cristina (Cricket) Limlingan is a Research Scientist at Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington and is the lead Washington State Research Partner for Partnerships for Pre-K Improvement, a multi-year, cross-sectoral study focusing on improving the quality of state-funded pre-k programs. She recently completed her Postdoctoral fellowship in Classroom Intervention at the Developing Language and Literacy Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University where she worked on research related to supporting teachers who work with dual language learners (DLLs). Cricket is interested in conducting rigorous, multidisciplinary, mixed-methods research in early childhood and basic education with the goal of improving the quality of educational experiences for young children in the United States and in low- and middle- income countries. Her previous research has been related to home, school and community partnerships, family engagement, teacher-child interactions and dual language learners’ school readiness.

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Brandon Foster

Senior Director of Statistics and Psychometrics, Lumanity
Email

Education
Ph.D., 2017, Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

M.A. 2013, Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

B.A. 2010, University of Southern Maine
Adviser: Dr. Bruce Thompson
Major: Psychology

Internships
Doctoral Intern in Psychometrics at Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Research Interests
During my time at Tufts, I focused my research on developing and evaluating psychometric assessments for early childhood environments, both at home and in educational settings. My dissertation analyzed the ECERS-R (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised), examining its utility as a tool deployed in quality rating and improvement systems. My dissertation showed that the ECERS-R primarily serves as a risk assessment instrument, with notable limitations in distinguishing meaningful differences in classroom quality beyond rudimentary/low levels of quality.

Currently, I specialize in clinical outcomes assessment, where I develop sophisticated measurement tools for patients, caregivers, and clinicians. These assessments are crucial components in clinical trials, providing essential data to evaluate the effectiveness of new treatments across various diseases and disorders. I’m particularly passionate about incorporating fundamental principles of developmental psychology into pediatric and caregiver measures, working to enhance how these tools are created, implemented, and analyzed in clinical research settings.

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Sunah Hyun

Senior Researcher
Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University
Email

Education
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-2021
NIH-Funded T32 Stuart T. Hauser Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP)
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Adviser: Dr. Cindy Liu

Ph.D. 2019, Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
Adviser: Dr. Christine McWayne

Dissertation Title: Examination of Chinese Immigrant Parents’ Beliefs about Children’s Social Development Through Play: A Mixed Methods Explanatory Sequential Study.
Funded by Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Ed.M. 2010, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education
Adviser: Dr. Paul Harris
Concentration: Human Development and Psychology

B.A. 2006, University of Washington
Adviser: Dr. Tuen Yu Lau
Concentration: Social and Cultural Communication

Internships
Doctoral Intern in Education Program at American institutes for Research, Waltham, MA
Doctoral Intern at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA

Research Interests
My current work focuses on developing innovative evaluation strategies and effective assessment systems to support college and graduate students’ civic character development, aligned with Tisch College’s mission and values. As a researcher committed to community-driven research, I aim to bridge academic inquiry with local communities, inform policy, and create intervention strategies that support students and community partners from diverse backgrounds and identities.

Before joining Tisch, I completed an NIH-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. There, I utilized diverse methodologies to assess psychosocial stress across developmental stages and cultural contexts, with the goal of reducing health disparities in mental health outcomes.

During my doctoral training, I focused on identifying areas of resilience to address risks faced by vulnerable populations. My research aimed to foster healthy development and academic success for immigrant and low-income children and families, addressing the unique challenges they face.