ISSBD Elections 2025

Annette Henderson

I am a Professor in Developmental Psychology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand with research expertise in examining how infants and young children learn to communicate and coordinate their actions with their social world. I am the Inaugural Director of the Centre for Developmental Science in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland.

With respect to my service to our field and societies, I served as the President of the Australasian Human Development Association (AHDA; 2019 – 2022) and NZ-North Island representative (2023-2025). As President of AHDA, I was provided with the opportunity to serve as the AHDA representative on the International Consortium for Developmental Science Societies (ICDSS; 2019 – 2023), which was an excellent opportunity to meet many colleagues from across the globe who study developmental science.

I have enjoyed being a member of ISSBD for several years, attending ISSBD conferences, and enjoy seeing the broad range of research conducted by our colleagues as an Action Editor on the Editorial Board for the ISSBD’s journal, the International Journal of Behavioral Development (IJBD).

I have always enjoyed contributing to the field by engaging with developmental societies and would greatly value the opportunity to become more involved in ISSBD if elected to serve on the Executive Committee as the Secretary General.

Geertjan Overbeek

Since 2013, I work as a professor in pedagogical sciences at the Research Institute Child Development and Education (RICDE) of the University of Amsterdam. Since January 2024, I lead RICDE—400 researchers—as research director.

I am an ISSBD member and visitor of many ISSBD conferences in the past. Whenever financial and time resources allowed, I visited and contributed—Lusaka, Würzburg, Rhodes, and most recently the conference in Lisbon, Portugal. At the Würzburg conference in Germany (2008), I was honored to receive the ISSBD young scholar award.

In 2013, I founded the UvA lab on Preventive Youth Care, which main mission is to examine and identify ‘what works for whom’ in youth prevention, and to implement the evidence from our studies into practices that benefit the healthy and resilient development of youth worldwide.

Aligned with my interest in youth prevention, and my additional work as board member for the Dutch NGO “Kinderfonds MAMAs” (one of the largest NGOs in the Netherlands, established on the request of Nelson Mandela, serving more than 70.000 children in South Africa), I joined ISSBD’s Global Policy committee in 2024, upon its instigation by Tina Malti.

I would like to become secretary-general for ISSBD, because I want to help the organization move forward. ISSBD is an influential organization with a global reach. I believe that a strong ISSBD can make a positive difference in the lives of youths, their caretakers, and everyone involved in their healthy and resilient upbringing.

For a strong organization, executive committee meetings and forthcoming elections must be organized and recorded properly—I am ready to take on this responsibility for ISSBD, an organization that has my heart.

Kristine Ajrouch

Kristine J. Ajrouch, PhD is Research Professor in the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan where she co-directs the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD).

She joined ISSBD in 2008 when she participated in her first meeting (Wurzberg, Germany), was elected to the Executive Committee in 2018 and served on the Finance Committee during that time. She received a Fulbright award to teach/research in Beirut, Lebanon.

A Fellow of ISSBD, she adopts a life course perspective to the study of social relations and health. Dr. Ajrouch’s findings have been published in high-impact journals including Developmental Psychology, the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, and Advances in Life Course Research. Her research has focused, for over twenty-five years, on Middle Eastern/Arab American populations (MENA) beginning with ethnic identity formation among adolescent children of immigrants followed by the study of aging and health disparities.

Dr. Ajrouch’s current work is funded by the National Institute of Aging where she addresses social aspects of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These projects seek to establish prevalence levels of AD among MENA older adults compared to blacks and whites in the metro-Detroit area by collecting biomarkers, social and cultural data and neuropsychological assessments. She is also leading a project funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to overcome dementia stigma. Professor Ajrouch is committed to international collaborations and values the interdisciplinarity of ISSBD.

She is Past President of the Society for the Study of Human Development (SSHD).

Astrid Poorthuis

I am an Associate Professor in Developmental Psychology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. My research focuses on understanding children’s emotions, thoughts, and self-views related to their learning and academic performance. I am a member of the Dutch Society for Developmental Psychology (VNOP) and a staff member of the Interuniversity Centre for Educational Sciences (ICO).

Since my PhD-supervisor, Marcel van Aken, introduced me to ISSBD in 2008, I have been an active member of this great society. For years, I served as a member (2008–2020) and subsequently as the chair (2020–2024) of the Membership Committee. In this committee, we worked with the Membership Secretary to develop membership recruitment strategies to increase membership across the globe.

During this time, I also got to know many of the Regional Representatives, who serve as a bridge between ISSBD and the regional membership. I currently serve as the chair of the Regional Workshop Committee, which is responsible for providing recommendations to the Executive Committee regarding the funding of ISSBD regional workshops.

I presented my research at the ISSBD conferences in Lisbon (2024), Rhodes (2022), Shanghai (2014), Edmonton (2012), Lusaka (2010), and Würzburg (2008).

Meeting developmentalists from around the world provides me with new perspectives on child development and brings me lots of joy. Therefore, I would like to contribute to the society in the upcoming years as your Membership Secretary.

Pamela Wadende

I am a senior lecturer of Developmental Psychology at Kenya’s Kisii University, School of Education and Human Resource Development.

I have been the ISSBD Kenya country coordinator since 2016 after having been actively involved as a membership drive and local chapter activity coordinator from 2014. As a Kenya ISSBD coordinator, my team and I organized a successful virtual African regional workshop in 2021 at the time of restricted movement due to the Covid-19 pandemic and, lately in August 2025, supported the South African chapter to host a successful African regional workshop at University of South Africa (UNISA).

Currently, I am a member of the publications, membership and communication committees of ISSBD, a mentor in the newly developed ISSBD mentorship program where I mentor an ECR from Nigeria. I am also currently an associate editor for IJBD. I was a co-director of the ISSBD/Jacobs Foundation African professional development fellowship that brings together 10 mid-career fellows from different African countries for capacity building opportunities.

I have attended many ISSBD events since I joined the society. Currently, I am a steering committee member for developmental scientists for climate action (DevSCA) and the African Character Development Association (ACDA).

My interest is human behavior development across the life span. One of my current research foci is child and youth character development in LMIC contexts and friendly pre-school environments and experiences in rural areas of Africa.

Sawsan Abdulrahim

I am currently serving as regional representative for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. I am Professor of Health Education at American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and served as Department Chair for over 5 years. I am a team player and highly collaborative. I will bring good administrative skills as well as a new voice to the EC coming from the MENA region. I have been active in ISSBD, having attended a number of our biennial meetings over the last decade. I will bring a unique perspective to behavioral development.

My work centers on human rights principles to illuminate and act upon social inequities in health across the life course, with a focus on refugee populations and labor migrants in the Arab region and beyond. I am the lead author of the Arab Watch Report 2023 on the Right to Health, a live document intended to inform policy and advocacy efforts toward achieving health for all in the Arab region.

My substantive research areas include migration and health; the syndemic of early marriage and mental distress in forced displacement; and aging and the well-being of women migrant care workers. I obtained my doctoral degree from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and I am currently a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut, where I teach courses on health promotion theory, social epidemiology, and forced migration.

Angelo Brandelli Costa

As a social psychologist and full professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, I have established myself as a young and influential leader in international psychology.

As a prominent voice from the Global South, I’ve been an active member of key societies like the American Psychological Society (APS) and the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), where I’ve served on internationalization and diversity committees. Furthermore, my work has been recognized with the APS Rising Star Award.

I also serve as the editor-in-chief of Trends in Psychology, the official journal of the Brazilian Psychological Society (SBP). Via SBP, and the American Psychological Association (APA) I have been an active member of the Global Psychological Alliance (GPA), where I have served as both an Emerging Leader and an Established Leader mentoring future leaderships in global psychology.

My extensive experience in research on human development, vulnerability in marginalized populations, and prejudice, combined with my dedication to social justice and science from the Global South, makes me a potential candidate to contribute to ISSBD.

Nancy Hill

Nancy E. Hill, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist and the Charles Bigelow Professor of Education at Harvard University. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, she was a professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University (USA). She earned her doctorate from Michigan State University (USA).

She specializes in parenting and adolescent development, especially the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Specifically, her work focuses on the ways that race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status shape parenting and impact adolescents’ beliefs about the opportunities as they transition from high school to adulthood.

To the Executive Committee (EC) of ISSBD, Professor Hill brings a wealth of leadership experience in scientific societies. She has served on the Governing Council of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), as member at large, Secretary, President-Elect, President, Past-President, and Co-Chair of the Development Committee.

ISSBD has become a home for me and my research team, especially as my work spans multiple nations and regions and considers the impact of globalization on youth development.

Ariel Knafo

My involvement with ISSBD reflects my commitment to developmental science that is global, integrative, and impactful. I organized and chaired an invited symposium on internationalizing developmental psychology at the 2022 Rhodes meeting and presented a paper there on empathy development.

Most recently, I was invited to provide a commentary at the 2024 Lisbon meeting titled “Developmental science should provide complex answers even to seemingly simple questions” and participated in a symposium on children at war.

My research focuses on development of values, prosociality, empathy, and temperament. I have been engaged in scientific service and leadership, including heading the Hebrew University Psychology Department and membership in the SRCD International Affairs Committee.

If elected, I would be honored to contribute to ISSBD’s goals of expanding global networks, strengthening support for underrepresented scholars, and advancing developmental science that is inclusive and responsive to real-world needs.

Stefanos Mastrotheodoros

I am an Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Crete, in Greece, and an Affiliate Researcher at the Department of Youth and Family, at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. I have completed two PhDs, one with a clinical orientation and a focus on identity development and psychological well-being during adolescence (Department of Psychology, University of Athens, Greece), and a second with a developmental orientation and a focus on the trajectories of parent-adolescent relationships and family dynamics during adolescence (Department of Youth and Family, Utrecht University, the Netherlands).

I have significant experience in serving in international associations. Specifically, I have served as the elected President of the Early Researchers Union of the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP, 2021-2023). I have worked in the organization of international events, such as conferences, summer schools, and writing retreats. For example, during my Presidency at the Early Researchers Union of EADP, I organized an international writing retreat in Rethymno, on the island of Crete, Greece, where 29 researchers from 11 countries across Europe and the US gathered to work together on Developmental Psychology papers. I also contributed to the organization of the 2014 summer school of the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP) on the island of Syros, Greece, of the 2017 European Conference on Developmental Psychology (ECDP) in Utrecht, the Netherlands, of the 2022 EADP-EARA-SRA summer school in Dublin, Ireland, and of the 2025 EADP-EARA-SRA summer school in Vilnius, Lithuania.

My research focuses on adolescent development and family dynamics. I collaborate with colleagues from a large international network, including researchers from Austria, China, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the USA.

Chidozie Edwin Nwafor

I am Dr. Chidozie Edwin Nwafor, Professor of Developmental/Rehabilitation Psychology and Head of the Department of Psychology at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.

I specialized in lifespan development, however I focused on child and adolescent development. Currently, I am working on the impact of the COVID-19 experience and threat on adolescents’ academic interest and mental health across three African countries through the support of the International Consortium of Developmental Science Societies (ICDSS) COVID-19 Response Team. I am the current Chairperson of Association of lifespan Behaviour Development Practitioners (ALBDP) a Division of Nigeria Psychological Association.

I have participated in several ISSBD events since I joined in 2011, including the 25th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD), which took place on the Gold Coast in 2018. I am also a serving member of the International Affairs Committee of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) and the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD).

Ingrid Schoon

I am a Professor in Human Development and Social Policy at University College London, Institute of Education. My research takes a developmental-contextual systems approach to the study risk and resilience, in particular during the transition to adulthood, asking 1) to what extent and how do social conditions, in particular socio-economic adversity, affect individual thinking, feeling and behaviour; 2) to what extent and in what circumstances can individuals succeed against the odds and steer their own life course?; and 3) what can be done to improve the life chances of the most vulnerable? I have published widely, including a monograph on ‘Risk and Resilience’, 5 co-edited books and over 200 journal articles. Given the policy relevance of my findings, I have acted as consultant for UK government departments and for international bodies, including the OECD, UNESCO and the European Commission.

I have been a member of ISSBD since 2002 and have served as an officer in multiple roles. For instance, I was the treasurer of the society from 2008 to 2014 and served on the financial committee for a number of years before becoming Chair of the ISSBD Global Social Policy committee. In that role we have just published a special section in the ISSBD bulletin on “Global Perspectives on Poverty and Youth Development” with contributions from Kenya, Nigeria, Brazil, and the USA and other committee members. A second special section on the topic of poverty is currently in production.

My key objectives for ISSBD are to expand its efforts to shape global social policy and to provide support for early career researchers (including doctoral and post-doctoral researchers) with special mentorship programs, enabling exposure to international research teams and opening up opportunities for collaborative research and publications. My aim is also to utilize scientific research and evidence to inform and improve policies related to human development and well-being globally. This involves learning from existing evidence and approaches that address complex challenges like poverty, inequality, and environmental issues – and to get a better understanding of the research and expertise of our members in these areas. Ultimately, the goal is to bring together relevant evidence and expertise and to make real impact on the local, national and global level by creating more effective, equitable, and sustainable policies and interventions that bring benefits to people’s lives and to their communities.

Noah Webster

I am a Research Associate Professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University with specializations in Medical Sociology and Research Methods.

My research focuses on two inter-related themes: 1) the bidirectional influences of health and social relationships across the life course; and 2) the role of the lived environment (e.g., community, built, natural) in shaping social relations. My work has examined these topics across developmental contexts using representative survey data from the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. I have served as principal investigator of multiple sponsored research projects focused on translating knowledge from these areas to develop interventions designed to promote health-related behaviors through social resources. My work has been published in multiple developmental science journals including Research in Human Development, Developmental Psychology, and the Journals of Gerontology.

I was recipient of the Society for the Study of Human Development’s Early Career Award in 2015. I have served in leadership roles in multiple societies including ISSBD, the Society for the Study of Human Development, and the Gerontological Society of America. I have been an active member of ISSBD since 2016 when I first attended the biennial scientific meeting and have participated in all subsequent conferences. In 2020 I was appointed co-chair of the ISSBD Publications Committee and am currently serving my third two-year term in this role.