معرفی
Kristin Finn serves as Professor of Adolescence Education within the School of Education and Leadership Studies at Canisius University, where she teaches research methodology, human development, and educational psychology courses across undergraduate and graduate programs including Adolescence Education and Higher Education Leadership and Administration (HELA).
Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, preceded by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Research Institute on Addictions and program administration work at Educational Testing Service on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Dr. Finn's research program investigates the critical nexus between school identification and health outcomes, with particular emphasis on how student engagement correlates with substance abuse and childhood obesity. Her work reveals how school climate factors directly impact health-related risk behaviors, demonstrating that weight bias manifests in grading practices and that substance use patterns vary significantly by school environment and student demographics. This scholarship has pioneered methodologies for measuring school identification and its protective effects against adolescent risk behaviors.
Analysis of her publication trajectory shows consistent focus on school engagement mechanisms, evolving from foundational measurement studies in the 1990s toward contemporary investigations of health disparities and bias in educational settings, with recent work integrating physical education, literacy, and obesity research.
- Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (NIH/NIDA)
Her externally funded research portfolio includes a $1 million NSF grant for the Canisius Science Scholars program, multiple NIH awards including a $545,676 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award, and numerous university research grants totaling over $30,000. She has developed collaborative mentoring frameworks to enhance student resilience and implemented integrated academic-social support systems in STEM education. Current projects examine stigma's role in behavioral assessments and weight bias in educational contexts.
Dr. Finn leads research initiatives connecting school engagement with health outcomes through interdisciplinary teams, currently directing studies on fitness testing feasibility in physical education settings and bias in grading practices through collaborations with health education specialists and literacy experts.
