Tiffany Rybak, PhD

I am a pediatric psychologist and researcher interested in working with children and families to promote health and well-being. My clinical work, teaching and research focus on improving pediatric integrated primary care models for the early promotion of health and well-being for infants, children, adolescents and families.

My interest in research stems from my graduate school experiences, where we partnered with diverse families to understand and develop family-centered interventions tailored to their needs. While serving youth and families managing obesity and co-morbid health disorders at the Healthy Lifestyle Clinic at Le Bonheur Children’s, I witnessed the simple and complex barriers families experienced when seeking care for their children. This opened my eyes to the need for equitable preventive healthcare. I began to recognize the importance of overcoming these barriers through pediatric-integrated primary care models and moving upstream to prevent health challenges.

My clinical practice in pediatric primary care informs my research. In my clinical practice, I create partnerships with families to identify their strengths, challenges and goals collaboratively. We provide support for normal parenting challenges and caregiver well-being and short-term therapy for emerging concerns. I also value mentoring and training psychology and pediatric residents in pediatric integrated primary care. In my research, I value studying the impact of our pediatric integrated primary care model and developing family-centered, culturally responsive interventions to meet our families’ clinical needs.

I developed a responsive parenting intervention delivered during primary care infant well-child visits. This intervention aims to help families establish a healthy foundation for feeding, soothing and putting their infant to sleep. We found that infants whose families engage in this intervention have lower rapid weight gain during the first year of life and are at lower risk for developing obesity later in life.

As an early career investigator, I have a strong track record of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, including a T32 fellowship and a small R01 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) grant. I am honored to be a part of the Integrated Behavioral Health team, who is the recipient of the Mental and Behavioral Health Training Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (2023).