Our People

ISSBD’s success is mainly due to its active members and its incredibly hard-working executives. For more information on everyone involved for the society, please see the following sections below.

Governance

Responsible for the strategic leadership, oversight, and financial stewardship of the Society.

Standing Committees

These committees develop and oversee ISSBD's programs, publications, member services, and international initiatives.

General Committees

Early Career Scholar Committees

Working Groups

ISSBD Working Groups bring together members around focused, time-limited initiatives, tackling specific questions and projects that advance the Society's scientific and strategic priorities.

Regional Representatives

Regional Representatives strengthen ISSBD's global presence by connecting the Society with developmental scientists in their regions. They promote membership, support regional activities and professional development, encourage participation in ISSBD initiatives, and foster collaboration across the global developmental science community.

ISSBD Staff

The ISSBD staff provide the administrative, operational, and communications support that enables the Society's governance, programs, publications, conferences, and member services to function effectively.

Steering Committee

President

Frosso Motti-Stefanidi

University of Athens, Greece
Past President

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
Secretary General

Annette Henderson

University of Auckland, New Zealand
Treasurer

Kristine Ajrouch

University of Michigan, USA
Membership Secretary

Pamela Wadende

Kisii University, Kenya
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Executive Committee

President

Frosso Motti

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Past President

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
Secretary General

Annette Henderson

University of Auckland, New Zealand
Treasurer

Kristine Ajrouch

University of Michigan, USA
Membership Secretary

Pamela Wadende

Kisii University, Kenya
Conference liaison, Member

Manuela Verissimo

Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Portugal
Member

René Veenstra

University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Member

Amina Abubakar

Aga Khan University, Kenya
Member

Angelo Brandelli Costa

John Cabot University, Italy
Member

Cinzia Di Dio

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Member

Nancy Hill

Harvard University, USA
Member

Chidoze Nwafor

University of Nigeria
Early Career Scholar Representative 2024-2028

Marvin Hapenda

University of Zambia, Zambia
Early Career Scholar Representative 2024-2028

Tripti Kathuria

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
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Finance Committee

This committee works with the Treasurer to review investments and develop investment policy; and provide advice on D&O insurance, US non-profit filings (form 990), and financial transactions and institutions. It also reviews the budget as proposed and recommends actions to the EC.
Chair

Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck

Griffith University, School of Applied Psychology & Centre for Mental Health
Member

Brett Laursen

Florida Atlantic University, USA
Member

Nancy Galambos

University of Alberta, CAN
Member

Kristine Ajrouch

University of Michigan, USA
Member

Rick Burdick

Ex-Officio:President

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
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Nominations Committee

This committee develops the slate of nominees for elections.
President

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
Secretary General

Luc Goossens

KU Leuven
Treasurer

Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck

Griffith University, School of Applied Psychology & Centre for Mental Health
Membership Secretary

Julie Bowker

University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA
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Membership Committee 

The membership committee works with the Membership Secretary on membership recruitment strategies, including reaching better coverage of the lifespan; greater diversity of fields; improved recruitment of human development scholars beyond the US, Canada, and Europe, while retaining these traditional members; and more young scholars. This committee also works with the Membership Secretary to develop policy about membership fees.
Chair

Pamela Wadende

Department of Educational Psychology, Kisii University, Kenya
Member (2021-present)

Ann Sanson

Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Australia
Early career scholar (2021-present)

Cinzia Di Dio

Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan, Italy
Member (2008-present)

Guillherme Wendt

Department of Medical Sciences, Western Paraná State University, Brazil
Member (2022-present)

Ken Rubin

Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, United States of America
Member (2021-present)

Yue Song - early career scholar

Department of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, China
Ex-officio: Membership Secretary

Julie Bowker

Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, United States of America
Ex-officio: President

Tina Malti

Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada
Ex-officio

Livia Melandri

SAGE Publications, United Kingdom
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Awards Committee

This committee solicits nominations for ISSBD awards and ISSBD Fellows awards, reviews the submissions, and selects the awardees to be announced at the biennial meeting.
Chair

Silvia Koller

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Member

Gail Ferguson

University of Minnesota, USA
Member

Marta Fulop

Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology,
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Member

Maria Clara de Paula Couto

Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
Member

Linda Theron

University of Pretoria, South Africa
Member

Barry Schneider

Boston College, USA
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Publications Committee

The Publications Committee oversees all ISSBD publications including IJBD, the ISSBD Bulletin, and web content. In addition, the Publications Committee recommends to the Executive Committee any changes in policy (including budgets) affecting publications. Finally, they periodically consider whether ISSBD should be engaging additional publication/communication approaches.
Co-Chair

Denis Gerstorf

Humboldt University, Germany
Co-Chair

Noah Webster

University of Michigan, United States
Member

Liane Peña Alampay

Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
Member

Maayan Davidov

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Member

Jutta Heckhausen

University of California, Irvine, United States
Member

Silvia Koller

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Member

Federico Manzi

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy
Member

Pamela Wadende

Kisii University, Kenya
Ex-officio: ISSBD Newsletter Editor

Josafá da Cunha

Federal University of Parana, Brazil
Ex-officio: IJBD Incoming Editor

Jennifer Lansford

Duke University, USA
Ex-officio: IJBD Current Editor

Brett Laursen

Florida Atlantic University, USA
Ex-officio: President

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
Ex-officio: ISSBD Bulletin Co-editor

Deepali Sharma

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Ex-officio: ISSBD Bulletin Co-editor

Karina Weichold

Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
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Global Social Policy Committee

Chair

Ingrid Schoon

University College London, Institute of Education (UK)
Member

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
Member

Coming Soon

Member

Coming Soon

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Communications Committee

The ISSBD Communications Committee aims to ensure that the communication platforms of ISSBD reflect its commitment to international, diverse, and inclusive research on lifespan development, connecting researchers globally, and democratizing the production and communication of scholarly research.
Chair

Josafá Da Cunha

Federal University of Parana, Brazil
Member

Pamela Wadende

Kisii University, Kenya
Member

Dawn E. England

University of Birmingham Dubai
Member

Bin-bin Chen

Fudan University, China
Member

Guilherme Welter Wendt

Western Paraná State University, Brazil
Member

Cinzia Di Dio

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Ex-officio: President

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
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Early Career Scholars Committee

ISSBD runs the Early Career Scholars (ECS) programme for its membership in their early career stage. ISSBD defines an ECS as scholar of human development who is either working towards a PhD or whose PhD has been awarded less than 7 years ago. Thus, most early career scholars are in the early stage of their careers with a hunger for professional development. 

 

Read more about our early career activities here.

Outgoing ECSR

Cinzia Di Dio

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Outgoing ECSR

Given Hapunda

University of Zambia
Member

Manzi Frederico

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Member

Sonti Zelma Mokobane

University of Fort Hare, South Africa
Member

Ella Daniel

Tel Aviv University, Israel
Member

Lilian Ayiro

Kaimosi Friends University College, Kenya
Member

Yao Sun

University of Maryland, United States
Member

Rachel Han

Beijing Normal University, China
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Early Career Travel Grant Committee

This committee is responsible for soliciting, assessing, and allocating travel grants and pre-conference workshop opportunities for early career scholars.
Chair

Julie Bowker

University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, NY, USA
Member

Esther Akinsola

University of Lagos, Nigera
Member

Toni Antonucci

University of Michigan, USA
Member

Nancy Galambos

University of Alberta, CAN
Member

Anne Petersen

University of Michigan, USA
Member

Suman Verma

Panjab University, India
Member

Angela Chow

Indiana University Bloomington, USA
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Optimizing Capacity Committee

This committee capitalizes on ISSBD’s investments in optimizing global capacity.
Chair

Tina Malti

University of Toronto
Member

Toni Antonucci

University of Michigan, USA
Member

Anne Petersen

University of Michigan, USA
Member

Godfrey Ejuu

Kyambogo University Uganda-East Africa
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Regional Workshop Committee

This committee organizes and oversees ISSBD’s regional workshops.
Co-chair

Suman Verma

Panjab University, India
Co-chair

Catherine R. Cooper

UC Santa Cruz, USA
Member

Anne Petersen

University of Michigan, USA
Member

Bin-Bin Chen

Fudan University, China
Member

Sami Mahajna

Beit Berl College, Israel
Member

Alice J. Wuermli

New York University Steinhardt, USA
Member

Jacqueline Folotiya

University of Zambia
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Dissemination of Developmental Science

Chair

Geertjan Overbeek

University of Amsterdam, Nerthelands
Chair of the Communications Committee

Dawn England

University of Birmingham, UK
Chair of the Optimising Capacity Committee

Pamela Wandende

Kisii University, Kenya
Chair of the Membership Committee and member of the Child & Family Blog group

Julie Bowker

University at Buffalo, USA
Manager of the Child & Family Blog

Duncan Fisher

Child & Family Blog
President of the Child & Family Blog

Amanda Morris

Child & Family Blog
Early Career Scholar Representative on the Executive Council

Tripti Kathuria

Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.
Operations Manager

Karen Castillo

ISSBD
Communications Manager

Patrick Njoroge

ISSBD
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Artificial Intelligence

Chair

Cinzia Di Dio

Universtià Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
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Constitution and Bylaws Review

Chair

Luc Goossens

KU Leuven
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Conference Guidelines

Chair

Manuela Verissimo

Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Portugal
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TBA

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ISSBD Staff

These are ISSBD staff employed to support the society in membership and communication.
Operations Manager

Karen Kastillo

Communications Manager

Patrick Njoroge

Webmaster

Jan Boom

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