Preschool & Me Team
Reshma Shah, MD, MPH, Principal Investigator
reshmamd@uic.edu
Dr. Shah is a physician-scientist, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and a practicing Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Shah’s research aims to improve educational and developmental disparities with a health equity focus.
Dr. Shah received her MD from Wayne State College of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. She trained with Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and Lurie Children's/Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine pediatric residency programs and developmental and behavioral fellowship program at University of Chicago. She currently heads a clinical research lab which incorporates behavioral intervention design and implementation science to develop, implement, and evaluate a community-clinical linkage model to increase equitable access to educational and therapeutic services that promote developmental skills and contribute to improved health outcomes for both children and their families. A primary objective of her lab is to also create accessible and sustainable strategies supporting early childhood development (ECD) in healthcare settings serving predominantly low-income communities, both domestically and internationally.
Dr. Shah is a Fellow at the Institute for Health Research and Policy and Associate Director of Global Pediatrics at the UIC Center for Global Health. She was selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to be the ECD Project Technical Advisor where she has been working with Kenya Paediatric Association (KPA) to support health care initiatives and policy work in Kenyan communities and national health care systems to support ECD. She serves as the co-chair for the Illinois Chapter of American Academy of Pediatric Early Childhood Committee and co-chairs the Advisory Board for the Chicago Children’s Museum.
Sarai Coba, PhD, CLFE, Co-Investigator
Sarai Coba-Rodriguez, PhD, CFLE, is an Assistant Professor in Human Development and Learning at the Department of Educational Psychology. Her research centers on presenting a more complex, dynamic, and resilient picture of how racially-linguistically diverse families with young children support their children’s successful transition to kindergarten. Her qualitative research emphasizes families’ strengths, cultural resources, and agency in promoting their children’s education. She is also the Co-PI on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant that seeks to elevate the voices of parents whose children have been excluded from child care following a 2018 Illinois law barring the use of expulsion. To learn more about her work, please visit her lab page, The Diverse Families and School Readiness Lab, which Dr. Coba directs.
Kathleen Diviak, PhD, Co-Investigator
Dr. Kathleen Diviak, is a clinical health psychologist with over two decades experience in longitudinal health research. Dr. Diviak has expertise in clinical trial data collection and management, developing intervention protocols, training and supervising research staff, and assessing intervention fidelity. In addition, she has expertise in Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA), informed consent, and survey development. Dr. Diviak has specific interest in ensuring that our research protocols and processes support high quality science and fit into the lives of the people who engage in the health behaviors or live with the health conditions we are studying.
Molly Martin, MD, MAPP, Co-Investigator
Molly Martin, MD, MAPP, is a Professor of Pediatrics and a Fellow in the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Martin is an established leader in the fields of implementation science and behavioral intervention design and testing, especially as they relate to community health workers. She is also active in local and national policy efforts that target health inequities. Her research focuses on community models to improve health. Dr. Martin is the Director of the UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant Program and an Associate Director in the UIC Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science. She is particularly interested in asthma, oral health and COVID-19 in children. Dr. Martin has been the principal investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects that test community-based interventions targeting these conditions. She served on the Board of the Chicago Asthma Consortium and held a position on the Executive Committee for Community Health Worker Section of the American Public Health Association. She currently is a member of the State of Illinois Community Health Worker Advisory Board which is formalizing community health worker workforce credentialling in Illinois. In 2023, she was honored with the Savithri and Samuel Raj Endowed Professorship in Pediatrics. As a complement to her research, Dr. Martin sees patients in the Mile Square Health Center and participates in resident and student education.
Tina Schuh, Project Manager
Tina is a project manager with a passion for working on research projects that strive to achieve health equity and reduce health disparities in the city of Chicago and beyond. Tina received her Masters in Public Health, with a focus on Maternal and Child Health, from University of Illinois Chicago. She also was a fellow for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program. Tina ensures our patient navigators and our families are supported and the project's operations and administration are running smoothly.
Karis Gorak, Graduate Student
Karis is an MD/PhD student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, currently pursuing a PhD in Neurobiology. Her career aspiration is to become a pediatrician, specializing in developmental delays and disabilities in children. Karis has received a Master’s in Bilingual Education and has experience teaching both in the United States and abroad. She is enthusiastic about supporting families in navigating the complex processes of accessing therapies for their children through the Preschool&Me project.
Camryn Christensen, Graduate Student
Camryn is a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) working on a Master’s in Early Childhood Special Education. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Learning from UIC. Camryn has spent time working as an assistant and lead preschool teacher. Her current research interests surround preschool-aged children’s social-emotional development during/as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and how caregiver relationships strengthen self-confidence in preschool-aged children.
Giovanna Savastano, Research Assistant
Giovanna is an occupational therapist working in the preschool and acute care settings. She completed her occupational therapy degree at University of Illinois at Chicago, where she started working on the PreSchool and Me pilot project as a graduate student in 2020. She is excited to continue and expand this work to support and empower many more children and families in Chicago to get the services they need to succeed!
Zaynab Rehman, Research Assistant
Zaynab is a rising junior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is majoring in Bioengineering and minoring in Psychology and hopes to lead a neuroscience lab in the future. She is very excited to be part of a team that prioritizes health equity and helps children living in underserved communities.
Ryan Borum, Patient Navigator
Ryan is majoring in applied psychology, minoring in biology, and is also on the pre-medicine track. Her goal is to become a pediatrician, which is why she is excited to work on this project. She believes this project will be very beneficial for families and is excited to be a part of the Preschool and Me team and help families receive the resources they need!
Denise Carreto-Munoz, Patient Navigator
Denise is a student at UIC majoring in neuroscience and minoring in chemistry. She is on the pre-medical track and aims to attend medical school to pursue surgery. Denise is very excited to join the Preschool and Me team and help families receive the proper resources to be successful.
Kayla Hieras, Patient Navigator
Kayla is a 4th year student at UIC set to graduate in May of 2024. She is majoring in IHS and double minoring in Psychology and Medical Humanities. Kayla hopes to pursue medical school in the near future and eventually continue her work in the pediatric field.
Lynn Idriss, Patient Navigator
Lynn is a third year student at UIC majoring in Biology and pursuing the medical field. She has experience in working at Preschool as a teacher assistant. She’s passionate about helping families and children specifically and aspires to work in the pediatric field.
Carolina Jimenez, Patient Navigator
Carolina is a Biology major on the Pre-Medical track. She aspires to attend medical school and become a pediatric trauma surgeon. She is excited to be a part of this project to help children receive the proper education and resources that they need at a young age.
Adil Lokhandwala, Patient Navigator
Adil is an Applied Psychology Major, graduating in May 2025. He is infatuated with the human mind and will use this curiosity in medicine to become a Child Psychiatrist. Adil is jubilant to join this team and hopes to make a difference in families' lives.
Natalia Matula, Patient Navigator
Natalia is a pre-medical student at UIC majoring in Integrated Health Studies and minoring in Psychology and Human Nutrition. Her future career aspiration is to become a doctor. She has always had a passion for helping individuals with special needs and disabilities. Previously she worked as a Behavioral Therapist and currently she is working as a Certified Medical Assistant at Advocate. She is very excited to help families by connecting them to the resources that their children need to succeed!
Kruti Acharya, MD, Co-Investigator
Dr. Acharya is Director of the Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program (illinoislend.org), an interdisciplinary graduate-level training program to develop leaders to care and advocate for individuals with disability, funded through the Maternal Child Health Bureau. Her research themes are 1) the role of childhood, family and community adversity in the health disparities experienced by individuals with disabilities and 2) the ethics of genetic testing for disability in various contexts. As a physician, Dr. Acharya cares for individuals with developmental disabilities using a lifespan perspective from childhood to adulthood. She is particularly interested in supporting adolescents and young adults with developmental disabilities as they transition to adult-systems of care and beyond.
Mike Berbaum, PhD, Co-Investigator
Coming Soon