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Principal Investigators
Dr. Sierra Carter
Hello Hello! My name is Dr. Sierra Carter and I'm so honored to be the leader of the GLOW study. I'm an Associate Professor in Clinical and Community Psychology at Georgia State University, but more importantly I'm the mother to a little 5-month cutie named Henry 🙂. As you might guess, this study is near and dear to my heart and both my research and clinical interests revolve around Black and other minoritized groups deserving to live long lives. A common theme throughout much of the work that I do with an amazing team has been investigating the ways that racial trauma acts as a chronic stressor that impacts the mind and body, particularly for Black people, across the lifespan and across generations. The main aim in this type of community-driven work is to further aid in prevention and intervention efforts aimed at reducing racial health inequities that are rooted in oppression, including but not limited to, maternal health and chronic diseases/conditions. We hope that the GLOW study will evolve, with your help, to lead to policy-driven action and interventions in the U.S. that centers the desires of Black and Latina women to have the thriving lives they deserve for themselves and their children.
I’m an Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Duke and I’m so grateful to support this important project in Durham. I was raised in Gainesville, Florida and did my undergraduate work at UNC-Chapel Hill. I’m passionate about supporting parents and their young children. We know that laying a strong, healthy foundation for young children sets them up to thrive. It’s also important to support parental and early childhood mental health because babies are born with unlimited potential. There is such tremendous brain developing that is happening in the first few years of life and so investing in young families will support healthy outcomes across the lifespan. I’ve been working with pregnant people and their babies to promote healthy brain and behavior development since I was a graduate student at the University of Oregon in 2005. This work is very personal to me – I am the proud momma of two boys and so I know how hard parenting can be and how important it is for all of us in the parenting community to support each other and help our children reach their full potential. I am honored that you are willing to spend your precious time with GLOW, helping us to promote healthy pregnancies, children and families.
Dr. Liz Conradt
Dr. Sheila Crowell is a professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon. Her work is focused on better understanding and supporting people’s mental health from early development and continuing through adulthood. She is the director of several studies in Oregon focused on understanding the transition to parenthood. She is contributing to the GLOW team’s assessment of heart rate, stress, and wellbeing and she is supporting the development of future studies focused on the long-term health and success of the GLOW study babies.
Dr. Sheila Crowell
Hi everyone - my name is Anu Asnaani and I am an Associate Professor at the University of Utah and a licensed clinical psychologist. I am so thrilled to be a co-Investigator on the awesome GLOW study. I'm coming in as a collaborator with expertise in conducting community-based research and examining the mechanisms by which our evidence-based treatments for anxiety and PTSD work (and sometimes don't work) for the communities we serve, particularly communities of color and other underserved groups locally, nationally, and globally.
Dr. Anu Asnaani
Research Team
Georgia State University
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Keianna Moyer, MPH
Hey there! My name is Keianna Moyer. I am currently a first-year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. I am a research coordinator with the GLOW Study and have had the privilege of meeting and talking with many of our wonderful participants. My research interests lie broadly in making pregnancy and the decision to have children safer and more equitable for Black women. I hope that my work in research and later as a physician contributes to achieving health equity and justice for Black families. In my free time, you can find me playing with my two dogs or taking (sometimes undeserved) long naps.
Precious Ajiero, BS
Precious Ajiero is one of the Research Coordinators for the GLOW Study. She recently graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology (NBB) on the premedical track. Her research interests lie in the intersection between neuroscience and psychology and their use in understanding mental health conditions and addressing health disparities in underrepresented populations. Precious aspires to attend medical school and become a pediatrician, with a commitment to serving underserved communities affected by disparities in the healthcare system. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, exercising, listening to music, and cooking.
Mercedes Fyffe, BA
Hi! My name is Mercedes Fyffe and I am a Research Coordinator for the GLOW study at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia as a Psychology Major in my Senior year. I am interested in any and everything that can help understand and encompass the Black experience and utilize this information to create culturally appropriate solutions for the generational betterment of Black lives.
Angel Lindner
Hello! I’m Angel-Saphire Lindner, a Research Coordinator for the GLOW Study at Georgia State University and a senior at Spelman College majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Mental Health. I’m passionate about research and advocacy focused on racial mental health disparities, the intersection of race and gender among Black women, and the impact of racial trauma.
Grace Packard, MS
I’m a fourth year Clinical-Community Psychology doctoral student at Georgia State in the Health Equity, Agency, Racism, and Trauma (HEART) Lab with Dr. Sierra Carter. One of my areas of interest is anti-racist interventions in hospital settings. I’m excited to contribute to GLOW’s important research! You may see me at the birth visits where I help test baby’s reflexes.
Duke University
Alicia Holloway, BS
Hi all! My name is Alicia Holloway and I am a Research Coordinator for the GLOW study at the Duke University site. I have been working at Duke for over nine years (UNC-Chapel Hill before that!) and absolutely love the opportunity to meet so many new participants with such great stories to tell. With a background in Clinical Psychology and Public Health, I have a passion for working with disadvantaged and underrepresented communities to better improve their health outcomes. Though not a mom myself yet, I have been privileged to serve as a Guardian Ad Litem as well as a foster mom to a number of wonderful children needing a safe place to rest their head..
Deanna Floyd, MSW
Deanna Floyd, MSW is a Clinical Research Coordinator I at Duke University. She received her Master’s in Social Work at North Carolina Central University. While there she participated in the Duke-NCCU Bridge Office Internship Program, where she was able to train under Dr. Conradt as a Graduate Research Assistant. Deanna’s research interests include maternal health disparities, human development, mental health disparities and reproductive health
Norma Garcia Ortiz
Hi! My Name is Norma Garcia and I am one of the research coordinator of GLOW with Duke University. I really appreciate working on this project as allows me to be able to get in touch with moms who might feel invisible or underrepresented in research. I feel the need to advocate and provide them with the best options when it comes to joining a research study. I am a mom myself and would love the same for me if the roles were reverse.
Jennifer Xu
Jennifer joined the GLOW study in August 2023 as an undergraduate research assistant. Within the study, she focuses on transcribing interviews for data analysis. She is currently a senior at Duke University studying psychology and neuroscience, and she hopes to pursue a career in psychiatry or pediatrics following graduation.