Kathleen Baggett

Ph.D. 2000, University of Kansas, Developmental and Child Psychology
M.S. 1997, University of Kansas, Counseling Psychology
B.A. 1989, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Psychology

Dr. Kathleen Baggett is a tenured Associate Professor of Public Health and directs the Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development. She is a Licensed Psychologist Health Service Provider and has conducted intervention research at the intersection of maternal and infantmental health and disability for more than 20 years. She obtained her Ph.D. in Developmental and Child Psychology at the University of Kansas, where she subsequently completed a U.S. Department of Education, IES (NCSER) – funded Postdoctoral Fellowship focused on Intervention Research Leadership with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children and Families.

She launched her career at the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project (JGCP), where she progressed to Research Professor and Senior Scientist. JGCP received the Council of Exceptional Children’s Research Award, recognizing “35 years of research in special education and its seminal role in producing best practices, tools, and critical knowledge for education of students at risk with disabling conditions”. Within this environment and then at Georgia State, she has led and contributed to the writing of intervention research and training grant proposals that have generated more than $30 million in  grants from funders such as the NIH, HRSA, U.S. Department of Education, and CDC to advance the science and practice of optimizing neurodevelopmental health and well-being outcomes for infants with special health care needs, toddlers with autism, mothers with depression, and families experiencing substantial mental health and parenting challenges associated with poverty and health inequity.

Throughout her career, Dr. Baggett’s programmatic funding has aligned with Title V priorities. Examples of her current interdisciplinary projects with Title V related foci include partnering with Head Start/Early Head Start agencies across the country to improve access to effective mental health interventions for reducing maternal depression via building effective virtual coaching practices (NIH 2R44MH123278) and the use of effective data-driven virtual interventions for improving mood and positive parenting (NIH 5R01MH120237). She mentors doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty who have secured competitive faculty and leadership appointments in research and academia such as at the CDC, Emory University Medical School, and University of Kansas Medical School.