Marsico Institute
About Us
MIELL works in collaboration with faculty across the University of Denver who are interested in early childhood research and policy. Partnerships include the Math Department, Morgridge College of Education, Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program, Early Childhood Librarianship Master's Degree program, Fisher Early Learning Center, and the Ricks Center for Gifted Children, among others. Partnerships outside of the University include Clayton Early Learning, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Children's Campaign, New Directions Institute, Qualistar Early Learning, and the Lt. Governor's Office.
Virginia "Ginger" Maloney, Ph.D.
Dr. Maloney is the Director of the Marsico Institute. She was the Dean of the Morgridge College of Education at DU from 2001-2008. Previously, she was the Executive Director of the Sturm Family Foundation. Her interests include education reform, the leadership of local schools and districts, early childhood education, and education policy on the local, state, and national levels. She has worked in an executive capacity at nonprofit organizations providing education and family support services to children with disabilities and children "at risk." Dr. Maloney received her B.A. from Yale University as a member of the first graduating class to include women. She has an M.A. in Education and Human Development and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Currently, Dr. Maloney leads MIELL's contribution to early childhood systems-building across the state.
Amanda Moreno, Ph.D.
Dr. Moreno is the Associate Director of the Marsico Institute. Prior to her appointment at DU, Dr. Moreno was research Faculty at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and a Senior Researcher at a non-profit research firm in Denver. Her research and service work has always centered around improving developmental outcomes for children in poverty. She has been the Principal Investigator on federal, state, and local research grants, and has published first-authored work in refereed journals such as Infant and Child Development and Social Development. Currently, Dr. Moreno leads MIELL's research arm, and she is also the author of the parenting blog, You Don't Need This Blog, which is inspired by her experiences parenting three children and getting many requests for child development advice from friends and family.
Sheridan Green, M.S.
Sheridan Green is a Senior Researcher at the Marsico Institute. She has worked for over 20 years in academic, community and local government settings, spanning a variety of fields including early childhood care and education, child and youth development, and child and public welfare. Ms. Green holds a Master's degree in Human Development and Family Studies and is ABD at the University of Northern Colorado where her doctoral program focuses on applied statistics and research methods. Her dissertation employs the national Early Head Start dataset to examine the sensitivity of study conclusions to violations of design assumptions. Her research interests center on infant mental health, parent-child relationships, and the effects of intervention and education on the quality of early childhood teacher-child interactions, including the use of music and the arts to strengthen interactions, early learning, and literacy.
Graduate Students
Kirsten Brown, M.A.
Kirsten Brown is a third year doctoral student in the Child, Family, and School Psychology program at the University of Denver. She came to DU with a Master's in Counseling Psychology, and has experience working as a mental health counselor with children from infancy through the elementary level. Her interests in early childhood include infant mental health, how early experience shapes brain development, early childhood curriculum development, early intervention, and family-school partnerships. At MIELL, she is assisting with the Professional Development Task Force and Learning through Relating project.
Irena Pikovsky, M.A.
Irena Pikovsky is in her final year of doctoral studies in the Psychology department at the University of Denver. She specializes in developmental psychology, specifically the study of risk and resiliency factors in childhood. Her dissertation will examine the relationships among early environmental risk factors, genetic risk alleles, and physiologic stress regulation in middle childhood. Irena hopes to use this knowledge about physiologic stress processes to help parents and educators better support children. Relatedly, Irena is interested in intervention research targeting young children and families, and as such as been very excited to work on the Professionalizing Infant-Toddler Care project at MIELL. She is also assisting with the Executive Functioning project.
Lauren Williams, MLIS Candidate (June 2012)
Lauren Williams is in her last year as a Masters of Library and Information Sciences program for Early Childhood Librarianship at the University of Denver. She came to the Library Sciences department with a Bachelors of Human Sciences in Child Development and Family Living with a concentration in Early Childhood Education. She has experience working as a lead teacher in a private preschool in Texas for five years. She has worked with young children and families in many different avenues, including working with a non-profit organization developing opportunities to create community-based programs for children and youth living in urban neighborhoods of North Texas. Her interests include infant and child development, early literacy acquisition, and community outreach for families with young children.