Kate Guastaferro

Assistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Co-Director of the Center for the Advancement and Dissemination of Intervention Optimization

Director of the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) Program

Professional overview

Kate Guastaferro, PhD is an intervention scientist by training, her work is devoted to the development, optimization, implementation and evaluation of effective, efficient, affordable and scalable interventions with high public health impact. She is an expert in the multiphase optimization (MOST) strategy and her expertise is in parent-focused, multicomponent behavioral interventions to prevent child maltreatment. Dr. Guastaferro co-led a statewide trial focused on the coordinated implementation of three evidence-base child sexual abuse prevention programs; included in this trial was the parent-focused child sexual abuse program that she developed, piloted and evaluated. Her current work is focused on the integration of intervention optimization into the prevention of child maltreatment.

Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Guastaferro was an assistant research professor in human development and family studies at the Pennsylvania State University, and an affiliate of its Prevention Research Center and Child Maltreatment Solutions Network. In 2020, she was awarded the Victoria S. Levin Award for Early Career Success in Young Children’s Mental Health Research from the Society for Research in Child Development. She has been published in Child Maltreatment, Translational Behavioral Medicine, and the American Journal of Public Health.

Dr. Guastaferro received her PhD and MPH from Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, and her BA in anthropology from Boston University. She also completed a year of postdoctoral training at the Pennsylvania State University.

Education

Postdoctoral Fellow, Prevention and Methodology Training Program (T32 DA017629), The Pennsylvania State University

PhD Public Health, Georgia State University

MPH Health Promotion, Georgia State University

BA Anthropology, Boston University

Honors and awards

Victoria S. Levin Award, Society for Research on Child Development (2020)

NIH Loan Repayment Program Award: Toward the Optimization of Behavioral Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment (201820192020)

Public Health Achievement Award, Georgia State University (2016)

Scarlet Key Honor Society, Boston University (2008)

Publications

Publications

Recruiting and retaining first-year college students in online health research: Implementation considerations

Refining the Floreciendo Sexual and Reproductive Health Workshop Curriculum for Latina Teens and Female Caregivers Using Theater Testing

StandUPTV: Preparation and optimization phases of a mHealth intervention to reduce sedentary screen time in adults

Strategic selection of experimental designs in community-based intervention development within the multiphase optimization strategy framework

Systematic braiding: An approach to meeting the needs of families enrolled in a home visiting program

Systematic Braiding: An Approach to Meeting the Needs of Families Enrolled in a Home Visiting Program

The Essential Activities of the Preparation Phase: Examples of Projects using MOST. 

Using Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to Evaluate the Implementation of an Optimized Family Navigation Intervention

Using implementation science to inform the preparation phase of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) framework.

Using implementation science to inform the preparation phase of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) framework. 

Utilizing systematic braiding to address public health priorities for young children: Development, feasibility, and implementation of the Smoke-Free Home SafeCare prevention program presented in Systematic Braiding – An innovative and collaborative meth

“Public relations isn’t all rainbows and butterflies”: Student experiences in developing a child sexual abuse prevention campaign

A vision for the prevention of child maltreatment: Optimization of multicomponent interventions

Adapting prevention programs for virtual delivery: A case study in adapting a parent-focused child sexual abuse prevention module

Advanced Topics in Intervention Optimization: Matching the Right Research Design to your Research Question.

An Introduction to Intervention Optimization: Launching a New Generation of Behavioral Interventions. 

An Introduction to the MOST Mindset.

Applying an implementation framework to the dissemination of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program

Decision support training for advanced cancer family caregivers: Study protocol for the CASCADE factorial trial

Developing an optimized psychological treatment for pain after breast cancer using a randomized factorial design: A clinical pilot trial

Grandparents raising grandchildren in New York state: Understanding needs of a vulnerable population. 

Guidance on selecting a translational framework for intervention development: Optimizing interventions for impact

How lay health workers in a federally qualified community health center filled a critical void in a public health crisis

Impact of grandparents’ chronic stress on grandparent-parent relationship and life satisfaction by gender and race.

Implementation of a Universal School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program : A Longitudinal Cohort Study