Faculty
Kelly M. Tu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ktfrantz@illinois.edu
Education
2013-2015 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Auburn University
2013 Ph.D. Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University
2009 M.S. Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University
2007 B.A. Psychology, Randolph-Macon College
See faculty page: http://hdfs.illinois.edu/directory/ktfrantz
Graduate Students
Virnaliz Jimenez
Virnaliz is a fourth-year doctoral student in the ADAPT lab. She grew up in North Carolina, but her family is originally from the Dominican Republic. Following graduation in 2016, she worked for a non-profit organization providing free bilingual education to heritage Spanish speakers. She then worked as a Project Coordinator for Dr. Eva Telzer at UNC. Her primary research interests explore how social, family, school, and community factors can be leveraged to support positive child/adolescent development. She is specifically interested in resiliency in youth and the role that stress plays in development.
Email: vj5@illinois.edu
Education:
2021 M.S. Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2016 B.A. Psychology and Minor in Hispanic Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2012 A.A. General, James Sprunt Community College
Gyuri Kim
Gyuri Kim is a third-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies. Her research interests lie in taking a multi-method approach to elucidate behavioral, neural, and physiological mechanisms underlying the associations between family factors and socioemotional development during adolescence. She is particularly passionate about exploring the role of stress and parent-youth interactions, with a focus on identifying family-level risk and protective factors for youth’s psychopathology development. She is also interested in utilizing advanced statistical models to address the dynamics of youth development and family processes.
Email: sgkim5@illinois.edu
Education:
2018 M.S. Marriage and Family Therapy, Northwestern University
2016 B.A. Child and Family Studies, Psychology, Yonsei University
Mengyun Chen
Mengyun Chen is a first-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies. Mengyun is interested in exploring and understanding what factors would impact youth positive development and what stress coping looks like from childhood to adolescence. In addition, she would like to know how it influences current or future mental health and psychological wellbeing. She is also interested in how family could function as a whole system to connect and support different family members, especially how couple relationships could interact with parent-youth relationships. Mengyun is passionate about connecting research and clinical practice to build socioemotional development and mental health focused on prevention and intervention. She enjoys gardening, birdwatching, outdoor activities, and cooking.
Email: mc120@illinois.edu
Education:
2023 M.Ed. Counselor Education, Clinical Mental Health Counseling in Schools and Communities, Pennsylvania State University
2021 B.A. Psychology, Minor in Life Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
Undergraduate Students (2023-2024)
Allegra Hinojosa-Cabrera, Senior, HDFS Major