Dr. Melissa Alderfer is a Principal Research Scientist and Center Director for the Nemours Center for Healthcare Delivery Science (Delaware), a Professor of Pediatrics at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and a licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 25 years of research experience. Her program of research focuses on how childhood chronic illness impacts families, how families adapt and learn to manage illness and the healthcare system, and how we can intervene to improve the experience. She combines qualitative and quantitative methods in her work to conceptualize adjustment and develop, test, and implement interventions. She is currently Multiple Principal Investigator, along with Dr. Anne Kazak, for the Research Expanding Access to Child Health (REACH) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. She has mentored many successful junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students from a range of disciplines (e.g., psychology, medicine, nursing) on research grants, early career awards, and training grants (e.g., K12s, F31). She has approximately 150 publications and has received research funding from various NIH institutes (NCI, NIDDK, NIGMS) and national US foundations.