Miglena Y Ivanova
Who Am I?
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Ph.D. student in Developmental Psychology at Penn State.
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NIH T32 doctoral fellow at the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center.
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Research interests in the development of psychopathology & substance use prevention and intervention. Methods nerd!
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Long-term goals to translate work into policy & personalized programming.
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Passionate about mentoring underrepresented & neurodiverse individuals. Advocate for equity across dimensions of diversity.
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Prefers to solve problems and not just talk about them.
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Quirky. Creative. Always committed to delivering the highest quality work.
My Passions
Research, teaching, mentoring, and advocacy are not just a job for me... They're the driving force behind my journey.
My research interests center on the understanding of differential pathways via which early childhood risk and protective factors predict youth codeveloping internalizing and externalizing behavior problem trajectories and subsequent unique patterns of adolescent substance use and psychological disorders. I am interested in examining these processes by adopting both variable- and person-centered perspectives.
My teaching and mentoring approaches center on active and collaborative learning, fostering student growth to their full potential. To achieve that, I believe we need to invest the time and effort in meaningfully engaging everyone and fostering collaborative learning in line with each students' needs. I always strive for my efforts to foster inclusive engagement, through seeking continuous feedback, adapting to individual needs and goals, working according to their strengths and coaching/teaching them accordingly.
In the latter part of my graduate journey, I have undergone a transformative experience, actively engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) advocacy efforts. I have engaged in efforts to increase diversity in ongoing studies and more participatory research. Further, I have aimed to engage academics by starting important conversations about the multidimensional nature of diversity and the intersection of diverse identities.
What Do Others Say About Me?
Megi is adaptable, gritty, and intentional with every aspect of her work. I have never seen her stick to the bare minimum - I greatly admire not just her love of learning, but also the way she invests time and knowledge into her mentees and colleagues so that they can excel too.