Meet the team

Dr. Amanda Lowell is an Associate Research Scientist and a licensed clinical psychologist at the Yale Child Study Center. As the project director for the Grief-Sensitive Healthcare Project, Dr. Lowell integrates reflective practice and mentalization theory to support healthcare professionals in delivering sensitive care to bereaved families. She is passionate about translating complex psychosocial topics in ways that are applicable to a variety of adult learners working in healthcare and social service settings.

Dr. Amanda Chiapa is an Associate Research Scientist and a licensed clinical psychologist at the Yale Child Study Center. She has a background in pediatric psychology and researching and providing evidence-based interventions to diverse populations. As a member of the Grief-Sensitive Healthcare Project, she strives to understand the needs of providers and families to optimize quality of care in the healthcare setting.

Dakota Becker, LMSW, is a Clinical Social Work Fellow and outpatient clinician at the Yale Child Study Center. Dakota specializes in childhood bereavement; providing psychotherapy to grieving children and their families. As part of the Grief-Sensitive Healthcare Project, she focuses on enhancing community partnerships and disseminating grief education in a culturally-sensitive and developmentally-informed way. Dakota is dedicated to supporting health and mental health care professionals in delivering grief-sensitive care, to ensure that no child or caregiver grieves alone.

Dr. Paola Ayora is an Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. She is board certified in General Pediatrics, Adult Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. As a hospitalist pediatrician, she witnessed first-hand the grief that is experienced by patients, families, as well as the medical staff when children are ill. This led her to pursue additional training in Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. She is passionate about supporting the emotional needs of families and medical staff when taking care of ill children, as well as helping teams increase communication between providers and families in times of grief.

Dr. Celeste Poe is a Clinical Instructor and psychologist at the Yale Child Study Center. As an early childhood and perinatal mental health specialist, she is passionate about supporting young children and their caregivers through circumstances of grief, trauma, and bereavement. Dr. Poe is also a NICU psychologist and enjoys supporting healthcare workers and interdisciplinary teams in building reflective and responsive practices within medical settings.

Jen Lee, APRN is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing and a child and adolescent psychiatric nurse practitioner at the Yale Child Study Center. Jen specializes in community-based interventions for marginalized and underserved populations who experience chronic loss in a variety of ways including traumatic bereavement. As an educator, Jen supervises and trains interdisciplinary clinical teams consisting of graduate nurse practitioner students, social workers, and pediatric psychologists.

Dr. Nancy Borstelmann is a Clinical Instructor and Chief of Family Behavioral Health Services in Hematology/Oncology at the Yale Child Study Center. Prior to starting her position at Yale, Nancy was the Senior Director of Social Work at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Chief of the Division of Social Work in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care. She is a licensed clinical social worker whose career has been focused on serving patients and families coping with the impact of serious illness through direct clinical roles, program development, education, and leadership. Nancy specializes in family caregivers’ challenges, living with life-limiting illness as a family, and integrating the needs of children when a parent has cancer.

Kathy Armstrong is a Research Associate at the Yale Child Study Center. Kathy has many years of experience working directly with children and families, and is passionate about developing community relationships. As part of the Grief-Sensitive Healthcare Project, Kathy leads dissemination  efforts by facilitating outreach to healthcare organizations and training programs throughout the country.