Who are we
is an international collaboration that draws on the experience and expertise of child development practitioners, public health experts, policy makers, early educators, clinical specialists, and academic researchers around the globe. The project has a strong International Advisory Board and close affiliation with the World Forum Foundation and its Global Leaders Initiative to link early educators and caregivers across the globe.
The Universal baby Core team
Martha Vibbert, PhD
Director, Universal Baby Executive Director, SPARK Center (Supporting Parents And Resilient Kids) Clinical Child Psychologist, Boston Medical Center Co-Chair, Voices of Hope for ECD and HIV/AIDS, World Forum Foundation Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine Faculty Affiliate, Boston University Center for Global Health and Development Since 1996, Martha has been the Executive Director of the SPARK Center (also known as the Children's AIDS Program) at Boston Medical Center, a community pediatric program within the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. SPARK operates medical/therapeutic interventions and childcare, as well as summer, afterschool, and job training programs for over 100 children/youth annually (ages 0-24 years) with medical/emotional challenges, including HIV/AIDS. Martha is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. Prior to joining BMC in 1991, Martha was Senior Psychologist within the Pediatric AIDS Team at Harlem Hospital in NYC (Columbia University). Martha has conducted research on the neurodevelopmental course of HIV in children; the efficacy of behavioral intervention on early HIV drug therapy adherence; and the HIV-related needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda. She oversaw a child neurodevelopment partnership with a CDC-funded, HIV care and treatment program at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, and she coordinates an international Knowledge Exchange Program funded through Griffin Foundation, Inc. SPARK’s Knowledge Exchange Program currently collaborates with partners in Uganda, Malawi, and Haiti. One recent project was the production of an inter-cultural DVD training video on pediatric HIV neurodevelopmental screening and intervention for the Paediatric Centre of Excellence at UTH, Lusaka, Zambia. Martha currently oversees six AIDS service grants (public and private) and early intervention grants for children, including the MA Department of Early Education and Care, MA Department of Public Health, and the Ryan White CARE Act (HRSA) for pediatric mental health services. She has taught and supervised graduate students and international fellows in the fields of medicine, psychology, education, social work, and international public health for the past 18 years. Martha provides consultation to the Hilton Foundation Working Group on Early Childhood Care and Development at Save the Children/CARE USA. She is Co-Chair of HIV/AIDS Action Tank Working Group for the World Forum Foundation, and Founder and Director of Universal BabyTM , an international public health intervention for Early Childhood Development. |
Christa Griest, EdM
Co-Founder and Project Manager, Universal Baby EdM Education Policy and Management, Harvard University Project Manager, Global Leaders for Young Children, World Forum Foundation Christa first joined the early childhood field after a career in primary and secondary school management and policy, managing kindergarten to 12th-grade education centers in the Bay Area of California and, later, overseeing the Strategic Data Project Fellowship at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. During this time, she became interested in the science of early childhood development and how the foundations of learning are set years before the first day of school. She spent the next three years working directly with infants and toddlers in a childcare setting and began managing Global Leaders for Young Children, an international ECD advocacy development program through the World Forum Foundation. Through Universal Baby, Christa now works to turn what we know about the science of early childhood into practice by helping parents and communities create environments that nurture and protect a child’s brain development during the first years of life. Christa received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. |
Alice Tenjiwe Kabwe Grollnek, EdM
Co-Founder, Universal Baby EdM Human Development and Psychology, Harvard University Developmental Disability Researcher and Practitioner, Lusaka, Zambia Alice is a child development specialist with over 8 years of practice and research experience enhancing and developing services for children on the margins of health and development. She has worked with children and families from birth through adolescence facing a myriad of challenges due to chronic illness such as HIV/AIDS, trauma, developmental delays and disabilities. Alice has extensive experience assessing infant neurodevelopment and designing interventions for young children with neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities in Zambia. Alice led a 4 year-project at the University Teaching Hospital Paediatric Centre of Excellence in Zambia investigating child development and neurological complications related to chronic disease and malnutrition where she collaborated on the design of innovative interventions to help providers and caregivers support child development in the clinic setting and at home. Alice has designed, implemented and managed a unique multidisciplinary intervention clinic at the University Teaching Hospital offering assessment and intervention services for children with neurodevelopmental concerns and challenges that continues today. In collaboration with the SPARK Center (Boston Medical Center) she managed a project that created an intercultural training video to show providers how to conduct neurodevelopmental screenings during physical exams. Alice econtinues to explore creative and innovative approaches to enhancing developmental surveillance and use of evidence-based practices to promote child development in resource limited settings, including use of cross-cultural video and online tools for child development practitioners in remote areas. She is co-founder of the Universal BabyTM Project. |
Support Team
Ann Haycox
Educator and Administrator, Harvard Yard Child Care Center
Family-Infant Practitioner
Educator and Administrator, Harvard Yard Child Care Center
Family-Infant Practitioner
Kristine Marbell-Pierre, MA (PhD candidate)
Clinical Psychology Program, Clark University
Researcher, Role of Cultural Factors in Parenting
Parental Control and Autonomy Support within Ghanian Families
Clinical Psychology Program, Clark University
Researcher, Role of Cultural Factors in Parenting
Parental Control and Autonomy Support within Ghanian Families
Adetoro Okafor, BSSM (MD equivalent)
Pediatrician, Ibadan, Nigeria and Research Assistant, SPARK
Pediatrician, Ibadan, Nigeria and Research Assistant, SPARK