Pearl Avari, Ph.D.

Dr. Pearl Avari holds a Ph.D. in Human Sciences with a focus on Early Childhood from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Avari has experience managing multiple funded projects, including a multi-year NIH-funded community-based intervention project. Her expertise with project management includes leading research projects throughout their lifecycle, including scope of work development, study design and methodology, marketing, participant recruitment, data analysis, and dissemination of results. Dr. Avari has mentored graduate students and supervised community education specialists working in youth development. Her work has focused on supporting emotional and mental well-being for varied populations including educators, youth, and young children. She has also worked in developing youth programs focusing on positive youth development and community engagement in underserved populations. 

Dr. Avari has led needs assessments in multiple communities using mixed-methods approaches.  Her experience in research includes analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, report writing, developing guides and scientific publications, and creating evaluation plans. She has provided workshops as well as taught and guest lectured for University-level courses in Psychology and Human Development Across the Lifespan. 

At the Center for Community Health and Development, Dr. Avari serves as a Research Project Manager, where she oversees and supports implementation of a collection of research, training, assessment, planning, and evaluation projects. This includes the National Institute of Health’s All of Us Research Program, implemented by the Heartland Consortium, including academic medical centers at the University of Kansas, the University of Iowa, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska.