Our program provides opportunities for enhanced public health leadership training to focus on elimination of health disparities.
The MCHC/RISE-UP is scheduled to be in person. Please note that the format of the summer program is subject to change based on the COVID-19 pandemic status. Please visit the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for up-to-date information on program modifications.
Maternal Child Health Careers/Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement - Undergraduate Summer Program (MCHC/RISE-UP) at the UC Davis MIND Institute
The UC Davis MIND Institute and Office for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion have partnered with the Kennedy Krieger Institute to offer the 2025 MCHC/RISE-UP Summer Program. We invite you to apply to this program which provides students with the chance to begin or continue their public health leadership training. The program aims to educate students on reducing health disparities and increasing health equity among all different groups of people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded funding to the Kennedy Krieger Institute to create a national group of institutions and universities that follow the trainings of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program.
This national group includes the following partnerships:
What is health disparity and health equity?
Health disparities: preventable differences in the challenges of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by populations that have been disadvantaged by their social or economic status, geographic location, and/or environment.
Health Equity: the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health. Achieving this requires ongoing societal efforts to:
References: What is Health Equity? | Health Equity | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Scholars will travel to Baltimore for an in-person orientation at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University prior to the program, and present their posters at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Showcase and Expo in Atlanta after the program in Sacramento. Important dates are included below:
Orientation in Baltimore, MD at Kennedy Krieger Institute: May 26 – May 30, 2025
Program in Sacramento, CA at UC Davis MIND Institute: June 16 – July 25, 2025
CDC Showcase and Expo in Atlanta, GA: July 27 – July 31, 2025
Please note: these dates are subject to change, please check the Kennedy Krieger Institute website for up to date information.
A stipend of $4,900 is provided to all UC Davis program participants. Consortium site housing and round-trip travel for out-of-state scholars are also available. All program activities are contingent on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding.
Students will be residing in a local college dormitory on the California State University at Sacramento campus in Sacramento, CA. Housing during the program will be paid for by the program and organized by UC Davis staff.
Housing at both Kennedy Krieger and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be organized by Kennedy Krieger Institute directly.
Air flight between sites will be paid for by the program. Any ground transportation, such as driving between housing to community sites or the seminars, as well as parking, will be covered by the scholars.
To be considered for acceptance into this program, the applicant must:
The application opens October 1, 2024 and closes January 31, 2025. Please see MCHC RISE-UP Sample Application and Guidelines. The application link is located at the bottom of the Guidelines document after the Sample Application.
Who is eligible to apply?
Where is the program taking place?
Will all expenses be covered?
How am I paired with a mentor?
What are some examples of community/clinical sites?
What are some options for research?
Who are the mentors/preceptors?
Leonard Abbeduto, Ph.D.
Roger Scott Akins, M.D.
Kathleen Angkustsiri, M.D.
Janice Enriquez, Ph.D.
Madalena Martin, M.D.
Meghan Miller, Ph.D.
Irva Hertz-Picciotto, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Meghan Miller, Ph.D.
Christine Nordahl, Ph.D.
Bibiana Restrepo, M.D.
Sally Rogers, Ph.D.
Catherine Rottkamp, M.D., Ph.D.
Julie Schweitzer, Ph.D.
Deborah Son, M.S.W.
Aubyn Stahmer, Ph.D.
Meagan Talbott, Ph.D.
Angela John Thurman, Ph.D.
Heather Thompson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Megan Tudor, Ph.D.
Please refer below to the examples of posters by former participants who worked with our faculty and mentors.
Where will I be housed?
What are the unique characteristics of the UC Davis Site compared to other sites?
You can view a short video of our 2020-2021 MCHC RISE-UP Graduates!
Reviewing Accessibility Struggles within the Education System for Students with Neurodevelopmental Disorders Post COVID-19 (PDF)
Assessing Interest, Topic Preferences, and Barriers for Participation in a Virtual Teleconferencing Program (VTP) Connecting Providers and Spanish Speaking Families Caring for Children with Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (PDF)
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Children with Down Syndrome (PDF)
An Assessment of Cortical Thicknesses and Surface Areas Between Groups with Autism & Intellectual Disability (PDF)
What Evidence Based Strategies Do Parents Spontaneously Use With Their Infants? (PDF)
Adverse Childhood Experiences in Children with Autism (PDF)
A Pilot Study: Exploring The Association Between Wildfire Exposure and Placental DNA Methylation (PDF)
Addressing Barriers to Research Participation Among Individuals with Intellectual and developmental disabilities (PDF)
Identifying Culturally Relevant and Family-Centered Feedback for Integration Into the "Let's Talk" Seminar Series (PDF)
Transition to Adulthood For Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (PDF)
¿Hablas Español?: Identifying the Barriers that Providers Face in Serving Spanish-Speaking Families (PDF)
Trauma-Informed Care for Adolescent with Intellectual Disabilities
Sensory Reactivity in Infants with Elevated Likelihood of Autism or ADHD (PDF)
For any additional program information, please email one of the following:
Jonathan Bystrynski Ph.D. is a licensed clinically psychologist in the Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics division. He is a RISE-UP Faculty at the UC Davis MIND Institute site. His interests include trauma, neurodevelopment, and developmental psychopathology. He currently provides developmental evaluations for children and teens, including in the 22q11.2 Healthy Minds clinic and the fetal alcohol conditions clinic. Additionally, he provides trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) for neurodivergent youth. His research focuses on trauma and neurodevelopment, gender-based violence, and trauma-responsive care.
Janice Enriquez is a clinical child psychologist and Clinical Professor within developmental behavioral pediatrics division at the UC Davis Health MIND Institute. She is a RISE UP Faculty and former Co-Director at the UC Davis MIND Institute site. She specializes in clinical assessment and behavioral intervention for neurodivergent and traumatized children and their families. She is committed to the clinical training and diversity efforts, and she currently serves as the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and other related Disabilities (LEND) Director, and the University Center for Excellence in developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Associate Director of Community Engagement and Training. She is deeply invested in health equity and she serves as the Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at the MIND Institute. She was formerly on the leadership team for the Multicultural Council of AUCD and Co-Directed the Maternal Child Health Careers-Undergraduate Program (MCHC RISE-UP). She is committed to serving all children and their families in an effort to achieve health equity.
Olivia Wrisley is the Program Coordinator for the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) CEDD (Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities), RISE-UP and MINDGAP programs. She received her Bachelors of Theater Arts from Gonzaga University and spent five years in teaching roles at alternative learning schools. Olivia has a passion for helping people understand and empathize with the world around them and believes that theater and kindness are some of the best tools for this. She is eager to contribute to the joy and dedication she has found at the MIND.
Yue Yu is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis Health, and a licensed clinical psychologist at the UC Davis MIND Institute. She is the Co-Director of the RISE Program at the UC Davis MIND Institute site. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis and completed her clinical psychology internship at Charleston Consortium - Medical University of South Carolina, and her postdoctoral training at the UC Davis MIND Institute. Her research focuses on community implementation of evidence-based practices for young children with autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions, especially in the under-resourced areas. She also has an interest in psychosocial outcomes in caregivers of autistic individuals.