Category: News

3C Institute Featured in SBTDC’s Annual Report

The Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) recently featured 3C Institute as a successful small business in their annual report, “Fostering North Carolina Business Growth through the University-Business Connection.” The SBTDC provides management counseling and educational services to small and mid-sized businesses in North Carolina. The article highlights how the SBTDC has contributed to […]

3-C ISD Changes Name to “3C Institute”

As of October 2013, 3-C Institute for Social Development has changed its name to “3C Institute” to more accurately reflect our expanding scope of work. 3-C Institute for Social Development was founded in 2001 with the goal of improving the social-emotional health of children and families primarily through the delivery of social skills interventions in […]

3C Institute Receives CDC Grant for Continued R&D of Online Medical Monitoring System

3-C Institute for Social Development (3-C ISD) is pleased to announce that we recently received Phase II research & development grant funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s SBIR program for the continued development of the Online Medical Monitoring System (OMMS). This innovative web-based system will connect healthcare practitioners with families to help […]

Zoo U Listed in edshelf

Zoo U, our online, game-based social skills assessment program, was recently listed on edshelf, a robust directory of educational websites, games, and mobile apps. Visit edshelf to check out Zoo U and many other innovative educational technology products.

3-C ISD President Featured in APA Publication

In the Summer 2013 issue of The Advocate, a publication of the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice (APA Division 37), 3-C ISD president Dr. Melissa DeRosier shares advice on establishing a career path that combines research and clinical practice. In “Combining Two Passions: Clinical Service and Clinical Research,” Dr. DeRosier notes, “If […]

3-C ISD’s Zoo U Mentioned in EdWeek Blog

Zoo U, 3-C ISD’s game-based social skills assessment program, was mentioned in EdWeek’s “Inside School Research” blog. The blog post, “Education Department Invests in Business Research,” highlights the Department of Education’s Small Business Innovation Research program. Zoo U is cited as one of several examples of successful SBIR projects. Read the blog post Learn more […]

3-C ISD Mentioned on White House Blog

On May 10th, 3-C ISD was mentioned in the White House blog for our receipt of two Department of Education grants. The post begins: Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced the final winners of this year’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract awards–funds that are reserved for entrepreneurial small businesses using cutting-edge R&D to […]

3-C ISD Supports National Autism Awareness Month

On Tuesday, April 2nd, 3-C ISD staff helped Autism Speaks celebrate Light It Up Blue, in honor of World Autism Awareness Day. Light It Up Blue is a global initiative that kicks off Autism Awareness Month and helps raise awareness about autism. To show our support for autism awareness, our staff wore blue clothing and […]

Watch our Stealth Assessment Webinar

In a recent webinar, Melissa DeRosier, PhD, of 3-C Institute for Social Development, and Gregg Graves, counselor at Heritage Middle School in Wake Forest, NC, discussed innovative ways to address the pervasive problem of bullying in schools. Topics included: Research on bullying and social isolates Best practices for helping students learn the core social skills […]

3-C ISD featured on Techonomy.com

3-C Institute for Social Development’s Zoo U game is featured on Techonomy.com, a Forbes Media partner. The article includes an interview with the US Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences’ Ed Metz about the increase in SBIR funding for educational games. Check out Techonomy for the complete article

News

DEB CHILDRESS, PHD

Chief of Research and Learning Content

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Childress obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to 3C Institute, she served as a research associate and a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working on a longitudinal imaging study aimed at identifying the early markers of autism through behavioral and imaging methodologies. She has 19 years of autism research experience, during which she has examined the behavioral, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals with autism and their family members. Dr. Childress also has experience developing behavioral and parent report measurement tools, coordinating multi-site research studies, and collecting data from children and families. She has taught courses and seminars in general child development, autism, and cognitive development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Expertise

  • autism
  • early development
  • behavioral measurement
  • integrating behavioral and biological measurement

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellowship, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (Institutional NRSA-NICHD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • PhD, developmental psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • BS, psychology (minor in sociology), University of Iowa

Selected Publications

  • Elison, J. T., Wolff, J. J., Heimer, D. C., Paterson, S. J., Gu, H., Hazlett, H. C., Styner, M, Gerig, G., & Piven, J. (in press). Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months. Developmental Science.
  • Wassink, T. H., Vieland, V. J., Sheffield, V. C., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., Childress, D. & Piven, J. (2008). Posterior probability of linkage analysis of autism dataset identifies linkage to chromosome 16. Psychiatric Genetics,18(2),85-91.
  • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam K. & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: A comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 147B(4):424-33.
  • Wassink, T. H., Piven, J., Vieland, V. J., Jenkins, L., Frantz R., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., … Sheffield, V.C. (2005). Evaluation of the chromosome 2q37.3 gene CENTG2 as an autism susceptibility gene. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 136, 36-44.
  • Barrett, S., Beck, J., Bernier, R., Bisson, E., Braun, T., Casavant, T., Childress, D., … Vieland, V. (1999). An autosomal genomic screen for autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 88, 609-615. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19991215)88:63.0.CO;2-L
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Landa, R., Santangelo, S., Jacobi, D. & Childress, D. (1997). Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 74, 398-411.
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Jacobi, D., Childress, D. & Arndt, S. (1997). Broader autism phenotype: Evidence from a family history study of multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 185-190.