Our Staff

Miriam Landsman, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Iowa Consortium
Associate Professor of Social Work

Miriam J. Landsman, PhD, MSW, is an associate professor of social work, Executive Director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, Co-Director of the Iowa Consortium for Substance Use Research and Evaluation, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Iowa Center on School Mental Health at the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on family-centered child welfare practice and its intersection with behavioral health, and the human services workforce.

Brad Richardson, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Iowa Consortium
Research Scientist/Engineer

brad-richardson@uiowa.edu

515-771-3589; cell: 515-771-3589

Brad Richardson is Research Scientist/Engineer and Adjunct Associate Professor in The University of Iowa School of Social Work. As Research Director of the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, he also serves as co-Director of the Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation and is Coordinator of the DMC Resource Center and Minority Youth and Families Initiative.

Stephanie Besch

Program Coordinator

stephanie-besch@uiowa.edu

515-235-4661

As Program Coordinator at the National Resource Center, Steph is the local site coordinator for the Safe Babies Court Team in Polk County, Iowa, a demonstration site for the Infant and Toddler Court Team program of Zero to Three funded by the Health Resources Services Administration.

Debbie Black

Office Manager

debbie-black@uiowa.edu

319-335-4971

Debbie Black is Office Manager at the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice. Ms. Black has been at the Resource Center for 25 years and works on a wide range of projects, in addition to managing office staff and serving as fiscal manager for the Center.

Xueying (Sherry) Gao, Ph.D.

Research Associate

xueying-gao@uiowa.edu

Xueying (Sherry) Gao, PhD, is a research associate in the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice/Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation. Dr. Gao earned a Ph.D. in Methodology, Measurement, and Analysis, and a Master of Arts in Research Methods Measurement and Evaluation. Her research focus on creating and validating psychological measures and quantitative methodologies for social science studies.

Kseniya Garcia Bueno

Research Assistant

xeniya-slinkova@uiowa.edu

319-335-4488

Kseniya is a Research Assistant at the University of Iowa School of Social Work, Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation. Since 2013, under direct supervision Kseniya assisted on research projects primarily focusing on working with Spanish speaking program participants, involving recruitment of research participants. Kseniya is a multilingual professional who speaks English, Russian, and Spanish.

Gregory Gross

Research Associate

gregory-gross@uiowa.edu

515-235-4660

Greg Gross (they/them) has been with the NRC since 2019 as a research associate. They completed a BA in Spanish and a BS in psychology at Drake University in 2003. They completed a master’s in social work at the University of Iowa in 2012. Greg’s master’s thesis investigated the impact of norms, attitudes, and control factors related to HIV risk reduction behaviors among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Iowa.

Rui (Renee) Ling

Research Associate

rui-ling@uiowa.edu

319-335-4971

Ms. Ling's work focuses on program evaluation and implementation. She is interested in women's health, child health, and mental health as well as health equity. She is now working on expanding the Zero to Three Safe Babies program and contributes to data quality improvement, and project evaluation, with the Center for Public Health Evaluation and Research. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on Social and Behavioral Interventions.

Taylor Magnuson

Research Assistant

taylor-magnuson@uiowa.edu

Ms. Magnuson assists projects within the Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation and the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice. Her work primarily involves program evaluation, homelessness, child permanency, and substance use disorders. Taylor earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and is currently pursing a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of Iowa.

Nayong Quan

Research Specialist

nayong-quan@uiowa.edu

319-467-3127

Ms. Quan works in the Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation. Nayong’s work focuses on substance use disorders and mental health treatment, homelessness, and organizational change management. Ms. Quan earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in Social and Organizational Psychology and is passionate in using advanced technology and analytical solutions to enhance the positive impact of research and evaluation.

Abby Schueller, LMSW

Research Associate

abby-schueller@uiowa.edu

319-335-4971

Abby Schueller, LMSW, is Research Associate at the University of Iowa School of Social Work. As Research Associate with the National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, Ms. Schueller assists in projects within the Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, Iowa Center for Public Health Evaluation and Research, and DMC Resource Center. She is also a Community Coordinator for the Polk County model Zero To Three program known as the Safe Babies Court Team.