Dr. Esther Leerkes, HHS Associate Dean for Research
Email: emleerke@uncg.edu
As the HHS Associate Dean for Research, Dr. Leerkes is responsible for facilitating the School’s research enterprise and supporting the mission of the HHS Office of Research. She coordinates the work of the team of the HHS Office of Research, which includes pre-award, post-award, statistical consultation, and financial management staff. She serves as the HHS Liaison to the Office of Research and Engagement; this includes serving on the UNCG Research Advisory Committee and Conflict of Interest Committee, as well as frequent communication with the staff in the Office of Sponsored Programs, the Office of Research Compliance, and the Office of Contracts and Grants. She works closely with the HHS Research Advisory Committee to inform how to best assist faculty with their research needs.
Leerkes is currently on the Executive Board of the Child and Family Research Network (CFRN) and previously served on the board for Research and Instruction in STEM Education (RISE), two UNC Greensboro Research Networks. She is also a member of UNC Greensboro’s Community Engagement Council and the Internal Advisory Board for the NSF Spartans ADVANCE grant.
Dr. Leerkes is also the Jefferson Pilot Excellence Professor of Human Development and Family Studies. She obtained her PhD in Experimental/Developmental Psychology from the University of Vermont and began her career as an assistant professor at UNC Greensboro in 2003. Her research program centers around psychological, biological, and contextual predictors of early parenting quality and the links between parenting and infant/child outcomes including emotion regulation, mental health, and obesity.
She collaborates with other faculty in Human Development and Family Studies, Nursing, Psychology, Nutrition, and Kinesiology on a number of related projects. Her research has primarily been funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She has been the PI on R03, R21, and R01s as well as a Diversity Supplement and has served as an external collaborator on F31s.
Leerkes was a standing member of the Psychosocial Development and Risk Prevention study section charged with reviewing grant proposals for NIH for several years, and frequently serves as an ad hoc reviewer for NIH and NSF. Leerkes has also served on the editorial board, as a consulting editor, and/or ad hoc reviewer for several professional journals in her field. Leerkes has previously received awards for excellence in research, teaching, and mentoring.