Recent work
New Publication!!
We are excited to share that work conducted by Dr. Sala-Hamrick and the geneTIC workgroup was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology’s Special Issue on Traumatic Stress in Pediatric Medical Settings. This paper, titled “Provider Perspectives on Implementing Trauma-Informed Approaches in Pediatric Genetics Care” fills an important gap by providing information on the perspectives, use and barriers faced by genetics providers hoping to implement trauma-informed care. Despite the high rates of exposure to potential traumatic experiences by pediatric patients with genetics conditions and their families, this is the first study to explore the knowledge, competence, opinions and barriers associated with TIC use in genetics settings. Paper findings will be used to inform future TIC implementation projects in genetics settings as well as other pediatric medical settings treating children and families with chronic medical conditions.
Read more here! https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/21694826251367434
STAR Lab at the American Psychological Association Convention, 2025
This year two posters were presented representing STAR Lab at APA in Denver, Colorado. In collaboration with the GeneTIC research team, Thiaru Moore-Petinak and Sofie Ruiz-Sierra presented a poster entitled “Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Trauma-Informed Care in Medical Genetics Settings.” In collaboration with parents from MDHHS and MPHI, Dr. Sala-Hamrick also presented on “Examining Differences In Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Michigan’s Generational Cohorts.” As always, the APA was an inspiring and fun conference, full of engaging and innovative research presentations, conversations and fun times re-connecting with colleagues from around the county!
Dr. Sala-Hamrick speaks as an invited panelist on Trust and Trustworthiness
Dr. Sala-Hamrick was an invited panelist for the University of Maryland’s PATIENTS program’s “Addressing Systemic and Structural Racism to Improve Safety, Quality and Trustworthiness in Health Delivery Systems” or ASTARISQ Summary Roundtable Series. During this program, Dr. Sala-Hamrick, along with a superb panel of subject matter experts, discussed “Trust and Trustworthiness in Health Care and Science.” Rich discussions were had around how we van ensure that everyone is empowered to make informed and personally appropriate health decisions based on accurate and understandable information and how the panelists discussed how they have led the fight to build trust across policy and practice and how we can navigate the current landscape. It was a pleasure to take part in such an enriching and active discussion – thanks to all the community members, providers, scientists, policy makers and system leaders that joined in on the conversation!
STAR Lab at MI-ACE 2025
Congratulations to all STAR Lab members for presenting our recent work at the 2025 Michigan ACE Initiative Conference!
Dr. Sala-Hamrick was invited to speak at the 2025 MPS Newborn Screening meeting where she was able to meet with many amazing parents, patients and providers working to advocate and support children with MPS and their families. Her talk, Psychosocial Impact: Trauma-Informed Care in Medical Genetics Settings provided information about her clinical work and research on how trauma-informed practices can support children, families and providers. She also was a panelist on the Newborn Screening: Results, Notification and Policy where they discussed how to improve the delivery of newborn screening results and related processes.
Sophia Sodano presented at the 2025 Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan (BAAM) Conference where she was able to speak with behavior analysis researchers, students, and clinicians across the State of Michigan! Her poster, On the Pre-Assessments Used to Inform Experimental Functional Analyses: A Concise Review provided information about the assessments used to inform experimental functional analyses. She gained valuable feedback and suggestions from attendees and is excited to present her symposium at the 2025 Association for Applied Behavior Analysis International Convention in Washington DC this May.
Other Work
Review a sample of our work by visiting Dr. Sala-Hamrick’s google scholar profile, here.
STAR Research Collaborative 