The Novak Djokovic Foundation and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University have awarded four Harvard advanced doctoral students the inaugural Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship. Sonia Alves, Joshua Jeong, Rebecca Lebowitz, and Linda Zhao are all in the advanced stages of doctoral programs across the university, and each receives a grant during the 2017-18 academic year to support their groundbreaking research.

Alberto: Firstly, congratulations on being awarded the Djokovic Fellowship. Tell us a bit about yourself and what made you want to apply.

Sonia: I grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, with two older siblings. My parents are both immigrants from the Islands of Cape Verde. I graduated from Charlestown High School, a Boston public high school in 2006, and went on to Smith College, a small, private, liberal arts college, double-majoring in Education and Psychology.

After graduating in 2010 from Smith, I worked as a research assistant for three years at Boston Children’s Hospital at the Stress and Development Lab. That was my first introduction into the research world of adverse childhood experiences. The Stress and Development Lab is a psychophysiology lab where we conducted studies on adolescents between the ages of 13 and 21. As a part of our study, adolescents were hooked up to psychophysiology equipment such as EKG (electrocardiogram) and impedance cardiography tape around the neck and torso. The study I was working on examined differences in physiological responses among adolescents who had experienced abuse and violence in the past and those who had not, and tracked their later mental health outcomes. The work I did in the lab fascinated me and made me want to take the research further by examining this work within the context of academic outcomes.

Alberto: It’s a fascinating and vast topic to consider. What is your dissertation going to focus on?

Sonia: So, by working with the young people at Boston Children’s Hospital, I realised that I was interested in their academic outcomes. If you’ve experienced trauma as a child, how do you function in the classroom, and is it difficult for you to learn? And, if you are succeeding, what are the protective factors buffering the effects of adverse experiences? Is it a great after-school program, a great teacher who goes above and beyond? That’s what I am now here to find out!

My dissertation is looking at children exposed to community violence, such as being a victim and/or witness of a violence-related act such as a shooting or mugging. I’m trying to understand the mechanisms underlying the association between childhood community violence exposure and academic functioning, as well as the protective factors at play.

Alberto: At the Novak Djokovic Foundation, we’re proud to be able to support this kind of academic work, and we also work closely on the front lines with communities to provide better opportunities for children. What do you think are the gaps between academic theory and practice and how can they be bridged?

Sonia: Throughout the years, I have read a lot of the work on adverse childhood experiences, but I have had little experience with conducting applied work in this area, because I come from a very lab-based background. So, as a second-year doctoral student, I set out to obtain a Master’s degree in Prevention Science and Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education within the counselling strand, to gain some practical experience. Two days out of the week, I interned in the counselling department at a local Boston public K-8 (Kindergarten through 8th Grade) school. While interning at the school I conducted individual and group counselling sessions. This work allowed me to begin to explore how research and practice can come together. I think one of the great things about this Fellowship is that I can use the time during the Fellowship year to think about such questions. The environment is supportive and will help me think innovatively. I can practice, look at policy, conduct research and talk to others to help provide real solutions.

Alberto: Are you more inclined to stay within the academic field or do you see yourself more as a practitioner, or perhaps a combination of both?

Sonia: Some days I wake up and I’m like, “Oh, I want to be an academic.” Other days, I’m like, “No way, let’s get some practice in!” And then other days, I’m like, “No, I need to find a way to do both, right?!” As of today, I see myself in the academic field, but also making it a focus of mine to collaborate with community organizations. I would love to continue to conduct research in Boston while also collaborating with community leaders. There are exciting times ahead!

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The Novak Djokovic Foundation and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University have awarded four Harvard advanced doctoral students the inaugural Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship. Sonia Alves, Joshua Jeong, Rebecca Lebowitz, and Linda Zhao are all in the advanced stages of doctoral programs across the university, and will each receive a grant during the 2017-18 academic year to support their groundbreaking  research.

“” I have to start, as I have when speaking to the other Fellows, by congratulating you on being awarded the inaugural Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship. Tell us a bit about how you got here and your current academic interests.

“” I am currently doing a PhD in sociology while also undertaking a Masters degree in statistics. Before this, I did my undergraduate degree in economics at Princeton. For me, I am interested in finding out how the pieces fit together and working out a coherent story. So very broadly, I am interested in looking at the social determinants of health, especially in social networks. One project I am working on is pretty theoretical but I am looking for ways to apply it empirically – so taking a look at different behaviours, and how a social network can have an effect on the diffusion of behaviour through a social network, or not as the case may be.

“” That’s great. Now, if that’s just ‘one project’, what other research are you working on now?

“” Another side of my work revolves around substantive health applications, focused on smoking and preterm birth. Preterm birth is an area which is becoming a real area of interest for academics. What I find fascinating in the US, a developed nation, is the high number of preterm births and there has been some speculation as to whether this is down to inequality in neighbourhoods across the country.

This is something I really want to get to the bottom of, but a lot of the research which currently exists, particularly on the social sciences side, is data in the form of cohort level cross sectional comparisons. I want to expand on the data which is currently out there and I’ve developed something which I think is really cool. I am working on a prospective study, which looks at pregnant women and has both biomarker data and the social context data. So my research will be able to provide time sensitive analysis of what outcomes matter and when over the course of a pregnancy.

“” That sounds fascinating. And how did your interests lead to you applying for the Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship?

“” Sometimes I think there is tension between different academic disciplines. Certainly, in the areas my research is focused on – economics and sociology – there is some tension and I think a lot of it is justified. What attracted me to the Fellowship was being able to really focus on substantive issues rather than disciplinary boundaries. It is clear that there are a number of gaps which exist in research on early childhood development and whether a child’s development is influenced by economic or social factors, so I am very excited to be able to work with people from different backgrounds and interdisciplinary subjects to try and get to the bottom of it all!

“” Looking forward, I sense that you probably see yourself perusing a career in academia instead of being a practitioner.   Would that be an accurate assessment?

“” I think it is safe to say that research is probably going to be 80% of my career. However, I have a real interest in clinical medicine, particularly linked to children, and would love to be able to work a few hours a week perhaps as a physician in emergency paediatrics. I have a number of the qualifications required to become a doctor, so this is something I have not completely ruled out given my passion for medicine. This might be a little bit ambitious however as there are not many people who are able to have a dual career!

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Global CEO of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, Alberto Lidji, sat down with the Fellows to discuss their current research focus and thoughts on the Djokovic Fellowship. Today we hear from Rebecca Lebowitz.  

– Rebecca, I’d love to know a little bit more about your academic background.

–  I started as a teacher in the Washington, D.C. Public Schools sector teaching English and Spanish. This was mostly to 3rd grade students who were studying at a bilingual school. My certification was in special education and this sparked my interest in struggles around reading so I came to Harvard to get my Master’s in reading and became a licensed reading specialist.

It was during that time, where I realised I felt really stimulated by the research process, and that’s why I applied to become a doctoral student. It had shifted how I viewed myself – moving from just a practitioner to a practitioner and researcher.

– And could you tell me about the current research you are working on?

–  My current research focuses on teachers as caregivers in early childhood development, which is why this particular Fellowship appealed to me. I’m interested in teacher quality and capacity, specifically in the US where teachers are really under-utilised and underserved. This situation then trickles down to the children who are then neglected. Alongside this I am passionate about professional development systems, specifically instructional coaching of early childhood educators as a way of building teacher capacity.

What I plan to turn this into is a mixed-method dissertation. The quantitative part uses a large dataset from the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) of a professional development study they did about an instructional coaching initiative. I am looking to find the answer to: “how much of an instructional coaching initiative is enough to increase teaching quality?” Then the qualitative part of my dissertation involves using interviews to uncover insights about the relationship between instructional coaches and the teachers that they serve. We know that instructional coaching can be beneficial to increasing caregiver capacity but at this stage we don’t really know how. I want to find out how teachers perceive these relationships and what motivates them to improve their practice.

–  It sounds like you’re in two minds, if not more, in terms of what to do next?

–  Absolutely. I’m like “help me figure out what I want to do!” I think I probably see myself in a school system, as a professor of practice or something similar. I don’t think I’ll ever want to completely lose the part of me that is linked to practice. But I’m open to how that will look when I’m employed. Hopefully I get employed.

–  What are you looking forward to with regards to the Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship?

–  I love interdisciplinary work and that will be one of the most exciting parts of the Fellowship for me. Working with the other students, who are all from different schools, I’m interested to see how we will all translate our research into practice.

–  If you were looking to distil the state of early childhood development in one point, what point would that be?

–  In medicine there is a clear, almost seamless link between research and practice, in the way that research clearly informs practice. However, in early childhood education we don’t really have that bridge, and if we do it’s very weak and exceptionally long. A lot of research that is done is siloed. I think we need to shore up the link between educational research and educational practice; that is when we will see a real breakthrough.  

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The Novak Djokovic Foundation and the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University have awarded four Harvard advanced doctoral students the inaugural Djokovic Science and Innovation Fellowship. Sonia Alves, Joshua Jeong, Rebecca Lebowitz, and Linda Zhao are all in the advanced stages of doctoral programs across the university, and will each receive a grant during the 2017-18 academic year to support their groundbreaking research.

– Firstly Josh, I have to extend my congratulations to you. It has been fantastic to meet you and the other successful Fellows and hearing about the work you plan to do. It would be great if you could start by telling me a little about yourself and your research.

–  I’m a third-year doctoral student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and my research focuses on early childhood development in Pakistan. I am very interested in understanding how the dynamics within the family system shape children’s development; for example, how a child’s mother and the father influence each other and even co-parent to aid in the development of their children, particularly in the context of low and middle income countries.

I am honoured to have been chosen as one of the Djokovic Fellows and am certain the fellowship program will help amplify my dissertation research, which focuses primarily on the role of fathers.

– How did you decide on your research topic, and why are you interested in early childhood development more generally?

–  My undergraduate degree was in Human Development and Psychology. My early academic studies as well as my passions for applying these theories to different populations across cultures and contexts around the world, certainly sparked my current research interests in global early childhood development. However, I think it may be my own family experiences that have underneath it all influenced me the most. My older sister has intellectual disabilities, and my personal experiences growing up in a very fortunate context of a strong, supportive home environment highlighted for me from a very young age the importance of the family unit in promoting child and human development.

Growing up, my parents also took on not-so-traditional caregiving roles – at the time my mom was a travelling concert pianist and my dad, a professor, taught and worked in the evenings to care for us during the daytime. Growing up with my father as my primary caretaker during my early years definitely shaped my current curiosities in understanding family dynamics and parenting relationships that I’ve since been really interested in applying to different cultural contexts around the world.

–  Why did you choose this program?

–  The program really interested me because it brings together students from different disciplines and graduate schools, and bridges both domestic and international perspectives to thinking about child development. Moreover, the Center has truly lead the science and translation of research on early childhood development to programs and policies here in the United States and around the world. I’m excited to take my research to the next level and learn how to translate it most effectively to impact children and their families around the world. I can’t wait to get started and meet all the other folks here.

–  What are your plans in the future? Where do you see yourself heading?

–  I’ve still got to decide but I’m currently thinking about whether I want to go into academia or be more field-based, perhaps working with an NGO or an international development organisation. I do enjoy research and I’m finding that I’m always asking and wanting to answer the questions which will make a difference to the lives of young children and their families. There are so many options to consider! But I would love to spend a period of time of my post-doctoral chapter abroad – perhaps with a university abroad or with a group like Save the Children or UNICEF.

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