The KEYNET Collaborative

Our Mission

KEYNET is a collaborative network which fosters research initiatives focused on assessment, evaluation, and enhancement of medical training on the promotion of positive parenting behaviors and strong parent-child relationships within the healthcare setting. We seek to give meaningful opportunities for scholarship to trainees and faculty in all areas of practice. It is our goal to engage in a collaborative approach that encourages multi-institutional partnerships.

KEYNET was started by the Mount Sinai Parenting Center in collaboration with our steering committee members, after the successful launch of The Keystones of Development curriculum. A 4 hour, online, self-directed curriculum modeling how residents can promote strong parent-child relationships and positive parenting behaviors during routine visits from birth to age 5, Keystones was the first project to be studied in the KEYNET initiative and inspired greater exploration in these areas of resident training.



Research priorities related to promoting strong parent-child relationships and early child development:

1. Assessing and enhancing resident training on promoting early child development and positive parenting behaviors
i. Including increase resident interest in primary care, behavior and development and advocacy
2. Transforming clinical practice to incorporate the promotion of early childhood development into routine care
i. Including the training of non-physician staff and change in physical environment and use of technology.
3. Parents' perspective on primary care
i. Including perception of provider and support for behavioral/developmental needs of their child
4. Change in parent behaviors and child health outcomes
i. Including changes in discipline, language, stimulation, self-regulation, adherence to medical advice and follow up.
We encourage the use of varying methodologies including surveys, focus groups, interviews, medical record review, or observational instruments.
Benefits of KEYNET

KEYNET will give you the opportunity to
Engage in research on a national level

Participate in research with opportunities for publication and presentation

Network with colleagues who have similar research interests

Receive research mentorship and guidance

Explore research questions related to patient care and resident learning

Contribute to advances in medical education
Submit a Proposal

Previous research experience and an IRB approval are not required at the time of submission.
1. The initial KEYNET submission form focuses on your research idea, including aims and specific objectives. Initial proposals should be no more than 1-2 pages long. You may submit your initial proposal form via online submission form here. Submissions are currently open. Please allow 4 to 8 weeks for a response.

2. After review of the initial proposal, you will be contacted by a member of the KEYNET Steering Committee to discuss your project’s relevance, feasibility, and potential collaborations.

3. If you decide to proceed, you will be assigned a KEYNET mentor and asked to submit a 4-5 page proposal.

4. You and your mentor will present to the KEYNET Steering Committee to get further feedback on your research project. Additional revisions may be requested. Your KEYNET mentor will help you throughout your research project with regular check-ins, and with plans for how to present and publish your research.

Projects will be evaluated using the following criteria:
• Relevance to KEYNET research priorities and mission
• Feasibility of study
• Collaboration with other institutions
• Potential for contribution to the field
Projects and Publications

2021
Fatima Toor MD, Leora Mogilner MD, Aurora Lewis, Mariel Benjamin LCSW, Carrie Quinn MD, Blair Hammond MD. “Assessing Faculty and Resident Perspectives on Using the Keystones of Development Online Curriculum to Train Residents to Promote Positive Parenting Behaviors and Child Development.” Poster presentation. American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition. Link

Usha Ramachandran MD FAAP, Blair Hammond MD, Mariel Benjamin LCSW, Ruth Gubernick PhD, Steven Kairys MD MPH FAAP, Aldina Hovde MSW, Brittany Johnson MPH “Integrating Positive Parenting into Pediatric Primary Care: Evaluation of a Project ECHO Quality Improvement Program.” Poster presentation. American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition. Link

2022
Usha Ramachandran MD FAAP, Blair Hammond MD FAAP, Mariel Benjamin LCSW, Ruth Gubernick PhD MPH, Steven Kairys MD MPH FAAP, Aldina Hovde MSW, Brittany Johnson MPH. “The Healthy Spaces Project ECHO Quality Improvement Program: Integrating Positive Parenting into Pediatric Primary Care.” Poster Presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting.
Usha Ramachandran MD FAAP, Elizabeth A. Goodman MD, Christin Traba MD, Blair Hammond MD, Cheryl Mcfarland PhD, Harriet Lazarus BA MBA, Brittany Johnson MPH. “Educating Pediatric Residents on Promoting Positive Parenting: A Statewide Collaborative Approach.” Platform Presentation. Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting. Link

2023
Brittany Wenger MD, Xian Zhang PhD, Gwen Raphan MD, Blair Hammond, MD. “Caring For Your Newborn: Repurposing a Parent-Facing Video as a Tool to Train Residents in Promoting Positive Parenting During the Newborn Discharge Talk.” Poster Presentation. 2024 Best Practices in Pediatric Conferences, American Pediatric Association Annual Regional Meeting.

2024
Brittany Wenger MD, Xian Zhang PhD, Gwen Raphan MD, Blair Hammond MD. “Caring For Your Newborn: Repurposing a Parent-Facing Video as a Tool to Train Residents in Promoting Positive Parenting During the Newborn Discharge Talk.” Flash talk presentation. American Pediatric Association Region 2/3 Meeting.

For all other Mount Sinai Parenting Center research, click here.
Leadership

Mariel Benjamin, LCSW
Read more

Kecia Carroll, MD, MPH
Read more

Layla Fattah, ME
Read more

Ada Fenick, MD
Read more

Ellen Galinsky, MS
Read more

Blair Hammond, MD
Read more

Lianna Lipton, MD
Read more

Leora Mogilner, MD
Read more

Myo Thwin Myint, MD
Read more

Quang-Tuyen Nguyen, MD, FAAP
Read more

Carrie Quinn, MD
Read more

Gwen Raphan, MD
Read more

Iman Sharif, MD
Read more

Hollyce Tyrrell, MSSW
Read more

Mariel Benjamin, LCSW

Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Ms. Benjamin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York City with over 10 years of experience at Mount Sinai Medical Center working with families and children. She received her B.A. and B.S. summa cum laude from Northwestern University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University. In addition to serving as the Program Director at the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, she is on faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health. She is certified in parent management training from the Yale Parenting Center and is a trained facilitator of Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs.

Jasmine Escalera, PhD

Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Dr. Escalera is a Program and Operations manager with 10 years of experience designing and running large scale clinical research programs within academic, medical, and non-profit settings. Dr. Escalera received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Pace University and PhD in Pharmacology from Yale University. Dr. Escalera has a deep commitment to supporting the daily operations and designing programs for organizations that use research to promote the quality of life and healthcare for populations in need.

Layla Fattah, M.Ed

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Layla Fattah is an Education Program Manager at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her role focuses on developing and implementing curriculum and evaluation strategy for educational initiatives for clinical and translational researchers. She is a UK qualified Clinical Pharmacist, with over 10 years of experience leading pharmacy education at a national level and establishing clinically integrated experiential program of practice and work-based assessment and has worked across healthcare, higher education and government settings. Layla received her Master’s in Pharmacy from the University of Manchester and her Master’s in Education from the University of Leeds. In 2020, she was awarded the Mount Sinai Excellence in the Service of Teaching Award. She is currently completing a PhD exploring pharmacists lived experiences of organizational change. In her evaluation role, she has a particular interest in qualitative methodology, survey design, logic modelling and social network analysis.

Ada Fenick, MD

Yale School of Medicine
After receiving undergraduate and medical school degrees from the University of Michigan and undergoing a categorical pediatric residency at Weill-Cornell/NY Medical Center, Dr. Fenick was in private practice for 6 years. Her practical experience is augmented by national and local work in education and educational scholarship. Dr. Fenick has been the co-editor of the Yale Primary Care Pediatrics Curriculum since its inception, and is now the associate director for Pediatrics in the primary care component of the Biopsychosocial Approach to Health, a third-year medical student core clerkship.

Ellen Galinsky, MS

Mind in the Making/Bezos Family Foundation
Ellen Galinsky is the chief science officer and executive director of Mind in the Making at the Bezos Family Foundation. She also serves as President of Families and Work Institute. She’s conducted research on child-care, parent-professional relationship, parental development, work-family issues and youth voice. She is currently at work on a book about adolescence called The Breakthrough Years. Ellen is the author of the best-selling Mind in the Making, more than 100 books/reports and 300 articles. Other highlights include serving as a parent expert in the Mister Rogers Talks to Parents TV series, as child care expert of Dr. T. Berry Brazelton’s TV series What Every Baby Knows and being the elected President of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). In 2018. the Work and Family Researchers Network established the ongoing Ellen Galinsky Generative Researcher Award.

Blair Hammond, MD

Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Dr. Blair Hammond is a board certified pediatrician who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She also completed her medical training at Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center and was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society. She pursued a residency training in Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and received the Clinician-Educator Award. Dr. Hammond completed a medical education fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and was the Pediatric Clerkship and Sub-Internship Course Director from 2006-2017. In 2008, Dr. Hammond founded the General Pediatrics Faculty Practice where she still practices today. In 2010, she was awarded the Mount Sinai Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Hammond is now the Co-Founding Director and Director of Medical Education for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center. Dr. Hammond continues to be involved in medical student and resident education in addition to her general pediatric practice. She lives with her husband and 3 children in Westchester.

Lianna Lipton, MD, MS

Boston Children's Hospital
Lianna Lipton, MD, MS is a clinical fellow in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital. She received a Bachelor of Science from Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude and with Honors in Human Biology. She obtained a MD and Master of Science in Clinical Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, graduating with Distinction in Research and Distinction in Medical Education. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital as part of the Pediatric Research Program, where she continued her research studying the impact of maternal prenatal stress on infants and children. Dr. Lipton is interested in early child development, including factors associated with language outcomes in children. She is also passionate about medical education and is a member of the Boston Children's Hospital Academy for Teaching and Educational Innovation and Scholarship.

Leora Mogilner, MD

Mount Sinai Hospital
Dr. Mogilner is a pediatrician in the Division of General Pediatrics at Mount Sinai. She started Reach Out and Read at Mount Sinai, an early childhood literacy program based in the pediatric outpatient department, in 1998. She is the director of ROR at Mount Sinai and oversees the program, which distributes over 12,000 books per year to patients, teaches parents about the importance of early childhood literacy, and provides volunteer readers in the waiting room.
She has conducted research looking at the impact of literacy programs on early childhood language development. She is also involved in the Family Friends Program, an intergenerational program providing senior citizen volunteers to families at risk. She has been on the Board of Directors of the Reach Out and Read Coalition of New York since 1999 and is on the Board of the Mount Sinai Children's Center Foundation.

Myo Thwin Myint, MD

Tulane School of Medicine
Dr. Myint serves on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent (AACAP) Training and Education Committee and co-leads the AACAP Alliance for Learning and Innovation (AALI). His clinical work includes working with sexual and gender minorities, and supervising fellows, residents, and medical students in various clinical settings including Children’s Hospital New Orleans, CrescentCare Community Health Center, and Veterans Health Care System. He is active in advocacy efforts through multiple local and national professional organizations including Louisiana State Medical Society, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association, and American Medical Association.

Quang-Tuyen Nguyen, MD, FAAP

Assistant Professor, Department of General Pediatrics, University Pediatric Clinic, Univeristy Developmental Assessment Center, University of Utah
Dr. Nguyen received her bachelors of arts in History and Science from Harvard University, her medical degree from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, and completed her Pediatric Residency at the Tufts Floating Hospital for Children in Boston, MA. She stayed on as Chief Resident of her class. She is board-certified in General Pediatrics and currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah, Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics and works at the University Pediatric Clinic and in the Child Development Program the University Developmental Assessment Clinics. Her specific clinical interests are early childhood development, serving communities of vulnerable children, health access and quality, and diversity equity and inclusion in medical systems.

Carrie Quinn, MD

Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Dr. Quinn received her undergraduate degree in Science-Business from the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Quinn completed her residency in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center in the Boston Combined Residency Program. She is a board certified pediatrician and worked in private practice in Queens for many years prior to joining the Faculty Practice within the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she taught medical students, residents and mentored MD-PhD students in her clinical practice. Dr. Quinn has worked as the executive director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center since its inception in 2014.

Gwen Raphan, MD

Elmhurst Hospital

Kecia Carroll, MD,MPH

Icahn School of Medicine
Kecia N. Carroll, MD, MPH, is the Division Chief of General Pediatrics in the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai and Professor of Pediatrics and Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. She is a board-certified general pediatrician, clinical investigator, and epidemiologist.

Iman Sharif, MD

CORNET
Dr. Sharif's research has focused on reducing disparities in care for under-served children and families. Specific areas of inquiry have included child literacy promotion, child and parental health literacy, effects of child media exposure, childhood asthma and obesity, and testing models to improve access to care. Nationally, She serves as Network Director for CORNET, The Continuity Research Network of the Academic Pediatric Association - a 143+ national practice based research network of pediatric primary care practices that train residents.

Hollyce Tyrrell, MSSW

Research and Grants Manager, Academic Pediatric Association
Holly Tyrrell, MSSW, is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work Master of Science in Social Work program specializing in Marriage and Family Therapy. From 2013-2015, she trained as a clinical therapist through supervised practicums in a community service organization, women and children emergency center/family stability program, and residential treatment facility. Since 2015, Ms. Tyrrell has worked with the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) and, in 2019, was named the Research and Grants Manager to oversee all research programming and activities. In this role, she provides direct management to: the Continuity Research Network (CORNET), a practice-based research network comprised of nearly 60% of all pediatric residency programs in the U.S.; Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) which funds young scholars who identify as underrepresented in medicine with 1-year research awards and mentorship through a career and leadership development conference; the Young Investigator Awards Program providing young scholars with 1-year research awards to complete studies focused in general pediatrics and other subspecialities; and multiple committees/task forces to develop new initiatives within the mission of the APA for emerging scholars.

Through her work with the APA, Ms. Tyrrell has supported many research studies from proposal to dissemination including large-scale, multi-site research studies (e.g., a five-year, multi-million-dollar, Center for Disease Control and Prevention-funded grant) and has advised on the development of research networks and collaborations such as LitNet via Reach Out and Read. Her main responsibilities include strategic planning, grant writing, study design, participant recruitment, study team coordination, data analysis, database maintenance, and budget/contract management. Additionally, she has spearheaded the creation of new data collection materials and contributed to more than 20 publications, presentations, and workshops.

Karen M. Wilson, MD, MPH

Debra and Leon Black Professor and Division Chief of General Pediatrics, Vice-Chair for Clinical and Translational Research, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Wilson is the Debra and Leon Black Division Chief of General Pediatrics, and the Vice-Chair for Clinical and Translational Research for the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from St. Lawrence University, and a Master’s in Public Health, and medical degree with Distinction in Research from the University of Rochester. She completed her Pediatric Residency and Academic General Pediatric fellowship also at the University of Rochester. Her primary research interests are in understanding the relationship between secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and severity of illness in children hospitalized for respiratory illness, and how to improve outcomes in hospitalized children. Dr. Wilson had an R01 from NCI to study an inpatient parent smoking cessation intervention, and she is one of the Principal Investigators and on the Speaker’s Bureau of the AAP/Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence, which is dedicated to eliminating children’s exposure to tobacco and secondhand smoke. In addition, she is the Chair of the AAP Tobacco Consortium and the Associate Editor of the Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics. Dr. Wilson is also the Chair Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings Network Executive Council, and Deputy Editor of Hospital Pediatrics.

Mariel Benjamin, LCSW

Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Ms. Benjamin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York City with over 10 years of experience at Mount Sinai Medical Center working with families and children. She received her B.A. and B.S. summa cum laude from Northwestern University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University. In addition to serving as the Program Director at the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, she is on faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health. She is certified in parent management training from the Yale Parenting Center and is a trained facilitator of Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs.

Contact Us

Please contact research@keynetcollaborative.org with any questions.