Jenna Alley finds the good in parents (she’s a developmental health psychologist)

Jenna was never really interested in school. She loved theater and the arts, but  academically, she struggled. She had dyslexia, and "always felt like I was failing...never thought I was very smart," she said.It wasn't until her sophomore year of college that things started to turn around:  she discovered an academic field that truly excited her. Jenna had always been observant - nosy, even - wondering why people behaved the way they behaved, but her undergraduate mentor, David Frederick, "literally changed everything for me. He was an amazing teacher, introduced me to psychological science, gave me opportunities, took a chance on me," she said.Jenna Alley, PhD, is now a developmental health psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at UCLA, and she just published a major study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on the importance of childhood maternal warmth on social safety and adolescent physical and mental health. She is also studying health disparity, health equity, and social safety in LGBTQ+ youth.