Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award Winner: Justin Parent, PhD

Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award Winner: Justin Parent, PhD

SCCAP is delighted to present this year’s Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award and Grant to Justin Parent, PhD. The award honors Richard “Dick” Abidin, longtime member and treasurer of SCCAP. It is intended to recognize an early career psychologist whose line of research has significantly contributed to our understanding of child and adolescent mental health, and to support the awardee in extending their current program of research.

Dr. Parent is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island where he directs the Kids Development and Stress (KiDS) Lab. His research focuses on how family processes shape children’s mental and physical health, particularly among underserved and at-risk populations. A key goal of his work is to develop personalized, prevention-focused interventions that are scalable and equity-driven. His work has been supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, among others.

Dr. Parent is the principal investigator on an R01, funded by the NIMHD, that aims to investigate if a home-based parenting intervention leads to biological changes in young children that promote resiliency and protect against epigenomic embedding of adversity. This longitudinal study is in its final year; initial results have been encouraging and have led to new research questions. As the Abidin Early Career Award winner, Dr. Parent will receive $20,000 from SCCAP to support an extension of this study. He plans to use the funds to analyze DNA methylation from 50 families who have been enrolled in the study at least 3 years. This will enable him to test the longitudinal stability of parenting-epigenomic associations across developmental stages (from early to middle childhood) and to determine if exposure to a protective factor (positive parenting) buffers the impact of adversity on biomarkers of accelerated aging during a sensitive developmental stage. Additionally, Dr. Parent plans to explore epigenomic biosignatures of short and long-term responses to early intervention based on both child and parent DNA methylation (taking an intergenerational approach). The results of the study will have important implications for policy development and the promotion of early intervention services.

Dr. Parent has authored or co-authored over 100 articles and chapters. He has been selected for multiple other prestigious awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the Biden White House, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers. He was the first in his family to attend college, completing his Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology at the University of Vermont, followed by his clinical residency at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Please join us in recognizing Dr. Parent as the 2025 Abidin Early Career Award recipient!

Justin Parent, PhD
2025 Abidin Early Career Awardee

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