Principal Investigator, Group Leader, Health Coach
Dr. Ann Davis of the University of Kansas Medical Center is a pediatric psychologist who is passionate about the intersection between behavioral principles and eating/nutrition. The core of her work focuses on obesity in urban and rural children, and is treatment outcome focused. She is also interested in behavioral principles as they apply to young children who do not eat enough to sustain a healthy weight.
Group Leader, Health Coach
Dr. Meredith Dreyer Gillette is a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. She works primarily in the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity, with a special emphasis on the challenges that are encountered among parents of young children and those with special needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorders or Down Syndrome.
Group Leader, Health Coach
Dr. Nelson‘s research interest is using outreach strategies, including technologies, to deliver best practices in children’s healthy lifestyles to rural and underserved communities. A professor of Behavioral Pediatrics at KU Medical Center, she is currently focusing on Project Extension of Community Outcomes (ECHO), a technology-supported education approach to build the capacity of rural primary care to assess/treat common conditions using evidence-based strategies. She is also interested in home-based telehealth interventions.
Kelsey Dean, MS, RD, LD, CCRP
Study Coordinator, Health Coach
Kelsey is a Clinical Trials Coordinator and Dietitian at Children's Mercy Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center. She works primarily in healthy living research in children and also teaches health and nutrition classes.
Meggie Murray, MS, RD, CCRP
Study Coordinator, Health Coach
Meggie is a study coordinator and Dietitian at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She has research experience in building healthy behaviors in families in rural Kansas, children with autism, and pregnant teens, and she is interested in preventive health behaviors.
Bethany Forseth, PhD, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow, Health Coach
Dr. Bethany Forseth is a Postdoctoral Fellow for the Center. Her research focuses on the promotion and health benefits of physical activity and working to prevent and/or manage chronic diseases through increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviors. She also has an interest in physical activity measurement.
Madison Heydinger, RD
Graduate Research Assistant, Health Coach
Madison is a graduate student studying Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She works on data collection and analysis, collects dietary intake, and is a health coach for the iAmHealthy program.
Marshall Beauchamp, MS
Graduate Research Assistant, Group Leader
Marshall is a doctoral student studying Clinical Psychology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His research interests have focused on interventions for maladaptive eating and weight-related health behaviors, as well as scale development and assessment for eating disorders, body image, and body dissatisfaction. His roles on iAmHealthy include data analysis and writing research papers.
IT Support
Dedrick is an IT Systems Coodinator at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He provides IT support for the iAmHealthy program.