Through our Meet the Expert feature, get to know some of AIR’s key staff, learning what drives and keeps them going, the work they find most meaningful, and even a little bit about how they spend their personal time.
AIR CARES focuses on social and community context to reduce the harmful policies that stigmatize addiction; minimize the negative consequences of substance use disorder; and improve psychosocial, intergenerational, and interpersonal connections.
As a principal researcher at AIR, Coretta Mallery Lankford is the deputy director for the Health Learning Translation and Quality Measurement group responsible for leading the design and implementation of work to develop and implement quality measures and has specific expertise in developing measures for people with disabilities. Dr. Lankford’s ...
Jizhi Zhang is an educational psychologist, and a principal research scientist at AIR. Dr. Zhang is currently working on a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) research study on achievement gaps and previously she led a content research study to compare the 2011 Grade 8 NAEP and the Trends in ...
Sophia Arredondo is a technical assistant specialist at AIR with experience in projects related to youth, family, and community development. She is responsible for providing specialized direct assistance and training to local educational agencies (LEAs) impacted by community violence to expand their capacity to implement community- and school-based strategies that ...
The AIR Equity Initiative is addressing systemic inequalities in the U.S. and globally through our focus on four key areas—educational equity, public safety and policing, workforce development, and community health and well-being. Explore our project library.
The Sesame Street Family Resource Kit Pilot is a new program that includes web-based and hands-on (storybook) resources for parents/caregivers of children ages 3–8 affected by parental addiction. The Sesame Street resources and activities will be set up for parents/caregivers to use at home for 6 weeks (about 30–60 minutes ...
In 2021, AIR launched the AIR Equity Initiative, a five-year, $100M+ investment in behavioral and social science research and technical assistance to address the underlying causes of systemic inequities and to increase opportunities for people and communities.
The health and well-being of all people are directly affected by their living conditions and the systems that support them. Creating solutions that complement the interconnected nature of these systems is at the forefront of AIR’s commitment to advancing public health, improving outcomes, and generating evidence that leads to a ...
Taletha Mae Derrington is a senior researcher at AIR with over 25 years of experience in research and technical assistance (TA) projects focused on child and family health, development, and well-being. She is currently leading the Healthy Students Learn Better component of Promoting Equity Funding for Schools Facing Adverse Health Circumstances ...