Kicking off the 2019-2020 NH-ME LEND Year!

October 21, 2019

Welcome to the 2019-2020 cohort of 22 trainees, 16 from New Hampshire and 6 from Maine who began the LEND year on August 30.  Consistent with the program's goal of recruiting trainees from diverse backgrounds, we welcome self-advocates, family members, graduate students, and professionals representing a wide variety of professional fields including early intervention, education, family medicine, nursing, communication sciences and disorders, occupational therapy, journalism, humanities, human services, mental health, social work, public policy, and political science.  You can read more about the trainees here.  

The LEND program welcomes Nina-Sand Loud, MD who will serve as a LEND faculty member in developmental behavioral pediatrics and provide clinical mentorship at DHMC for LEND trainees. Dr. Sand-Loud will also serve as LEND Co-Director representing Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.  Joanna Fanos, Ph.D. joins as Adjunct Affiliate Faculty in psychology, and Susan Zimmermann, Ph.D., as Family Faculty, medical sociologist, and recent LEND graduate (2018-2019). Both Susan and Joanna have a strong interest in understanding families' experiences when a child experiences a serious illness and/or disability.  The LEND Program also welcomes Cameron Switzer, MSW as an Adjunct Program Evaluator.

Finally, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Betsy Humphreys, Ph.D. as the NH-ME LEND Program Director.  As Interdisciplinary Training Director since 2010, the program has flourished under Betsy's leadership.  She has led numerous program developments, successfully fostered a nine-year partnership with the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies at the University of Maine and enhanced active faculty engagement.  As we head into a new academic year and prepare for the next five-year grant competition, we are fortunate to have Betsy at the helm.