Kristen Lawrence

Kristen is a second-year student in the Master of Public Health program, in the Division of Community Health Sciences: Maternal and Child Health. Kristen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from St. Ambrose University and a Master of Education in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before beginning the MPH program at UIC, Kristen worked for over four years as a certified child life specialist in a pediatric Level I Emergency Department/Trauma Center, as well as for over a year and a half in a pediatric Transitional Care Unit with children with medical complexities and their families. In addition, Kristen also has experience working as a clinical research coordinator in pediatric gastroenterology. Over the course of Summer 2022, Kristen completed her MPH applied practical experience at the George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Center for Community Resilience (CCR) in Washington Dc. Here, she worked on the Truth and Equity (T&E) Initiative team, which uses community narratives and engagement to: address structural racism, influence system and policy change, and improve the health and well-being of children, families, and communities at large.

Kristen is very interested in how community-based research is bridged to practice, policy, and system level change in order to address health inequities and social determinants of health, particularly for children and families. After completing her practicum at the CCR, Kristen is especially interested in the development of policies and systems that mitigate childhood trauma, adverse community environments, and adverse childhood experiences, all while promoting community resilience. (https://ccr.publichealth.gwu.edu/tools-resources/the-BCR-approach). Kristen believes that healthy and equitable communities are the foundation for healthy children and families. After completing her MPH, Kristen hopes to focus her work on social and health equity to address childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences, specifically through community-based research and system/policy change.

Fun Fact- All Kristen’s childhood dreams came true when she won a radio contest in 2019 and got to meet all five Backstreet Boys (and Nick Carter called her sweetheart)!

1. Lawrence, K., Hall, C., & Malen, C. (April, 2022). Collaborating with peers of differing cultural and racial backgrounds. Graduate course guest speaker in Social Work 791: Exploring Institutional Racism: School Social Work. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI.

1. Lawrence, K. (February, 2022). Supporting pediatric patients in the outpatient setting. Presentation at Erie Family Health Centers, Chicago, IL.
2. Lawrence, K., Leach, R., & Piraino, K. (February, 2021). Supporting medically complex children in the public school setting. Presentation at Maryville Children’s Healthcare Center, Chicago, IL.
3. Ashby D. & Lawrence, K. (July, 2017). Pediatric pain and procedural sedation. Presentation at the Medical College of Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Grand Rounds, Milwaukee, WI.
4. Kittell, E., Lawrence, K., Lunoe, M., & Drendel A. (May, 2017). Parent perceived value of child life services in a pediatric emergency department. Poster presentation at the Association for Child Life Professionals Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
5. Lunoe, M., Kittell, E., Lawrence, K., & Drendel A. (May, 2017). Parent perceived value of child life services in a pediatric emergency department. Poster presentation at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, College of Nursing Building Bridges to Research Based Nursing Practice Conference, Milwaukee, WI.
6. Lawrence, K., Kittell E., Ross, K., & Fitzgerald, M. (October, 2016). What about me: Developmental considerations and support for siblings of children with special health care needs. Presentation at the Care in the Community Conference, Milwaukee, WI.
7. Lunoe, M., Kittell, E., Lawrence, K., & Drendel A. (May, 2016). Parent perceived value of child life services in a pediatric emergency department. Poster presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
8. Lawrence, K., Clarke, E., & Morland, A. (March, 2014). Practical strategies to address challenging behaviors of preschoolers in the classroom. Presentation at the Early Childhood Today: Play Learn and Grow Together for a Successful Tomorrow Conference, Romeoville, IL.
9. Corr, C., Santos, R.M., Fowler, S.A., Davis, C., & Lawrence, K. (February, 2014). Early intervention providers' perceptions of working with families living in poverty. Poster presentation at the opening night symposium at the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention, San Diego, CA.
10. Lawrence, K. E., & Weglarz-Ward, J. M. (January, 2014). Messy hands, growing minds: The developmental benefits of messy play. Workshop at Opening Minds Conference for Chicago Metro Association for the Education of Young Children, Chicago, IL.
11. Hughes, M., Hile, K., Corr, C., Davis, C., Weglarz-Ward, J., & Lawrence, K.  (October, 2013). Dialogic videotaping:  A supervision tool for facilitating pre-service student reflection. Presentation at the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs, San Francisco, CA.