Tuesday, September 29, 2026 | 12 – 1 PM
HealthySteps sites affiliated with academic medical centers have a unique opportunity to enrich pediatric residency training and strengthen care for young children and their families. Although pediatric residency programs prepare physicians to diagnose and manage physical and developmental conditions affecting infants and children, residents often have limited opportunities to build skills in addressing early childhood behavioral concerns, caregiver mental health, and effective partnership with caregivers.
This session will explore how HealthySteps sites can provide pediatric residents with practical, relationship-centered learning experiences that promote early childhood development, address caregiver well-being, and strengthen early relational health. Presenters will share examples of how their sites are incorporating HealthySteps into residency training, including strategies that support interdisciplinary collaboration, caregiver partnership, and practical application in pediatric primary care.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe how the HealthySteps model can expand pediatric residents’ opportunities to address early childhood developmental and behavioral concerns, caregiver well-being, and caregiver partnership.
- Compare practical strategies for incorporating HealthySteps content and experiences into residency training, such as shadowing, team-based well-child visits, small-group learning, and focused didactic instruction.
- Identify at least one actionable strategy for strengthening relationship-centered, interdisciplinary learning for pediatric residents at their site.
Presenters
Gabriella George, PsyD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU School of Grossman of Medicine
Pediatric Psychologist, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU/Bellevue Hospital
Dr. Gabriella George is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a Pediatric Psychologist in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU/Bellevue Hospital. Dr. George’s clinical work focuses on integrated behavioral health, infant mental health, trauma, and perinatal mental health. Additionally, she is interested in the complex intersection of psychological and medical health in infants, young children, and their families. Dr. George is passionate about strengthening the integration of behavioral health into pediatric care through education, collaboration, and evidence-informed practice. She is dedicated to the training of medical providers, with a focus on enhancing clinicians’ ability to recognize and address behavioral health concerns within pediatric and medical settings. Her scholarly work includes efforts to increase pediatric providers’ knowledge and confidence in identifying and addressing infant and maternal mental health concerns, as well as understanding the ways trauma can manifest in the health and development of infants and toddlers. Through her clinical, educational, and scholarly work, Dr. George seeks to advance the integration of mental health into pediatric care and improve support for children and families across the perinatal and early childhood periods.
Emily Hockenberry, PhD
Clinical Child Psychologist, HealthySteps Program, Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City
Dr. Emily Hockenberry is a clinical child psychologist working in the HealthySteps program at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from St. John’s University and completed her postdoctoral training at the Mount Sinai Morningside CARES program, an intensive outpatient integrated school program for adolescents with acute mental health and substance use challenges. Her clinical interests include working with children and their families to address the impact of trauma, systemic inequity, and other barriers to relational and mental health. At HealthySteps, her work focuses on promoting secure attachment and positive development for children ages 0-3 in an integrated pediatric care setting.
Daniel Nicklas, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Medical Director, Pediatric Call Center and Child Health Clinic
Dr. Daniel Nicklas is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a nationally recognized leader in pediatric medical education, digital learning, and ambulatory care innovation. His work focuses on developing scalable educational programs that extend the reach of pediatric education through online courses, podcasts, curriculum development, and technology-enabled teaching. Dr. Nicklas is the creator of educational initiatives that have engaged tens of thousands of learners worldwide and generated millions of learning interactions through digital platforms and the Charting Pediatrics podcast. In addition to his educational leadership, he serves as Medical Director of the Pediatric Call Center and Clinical Medical Director of the Child Health Clinic, leading efforts in patient access, telehealth, quality improvement, and clinical systems innovation. Through his scholarship, mentorship, and national leadership roles within the Academic Pediatric Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, he continues to shape the future of pediatric education and ambulatory care.
Suzy Tomopoulos, MD, FAAP
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
NYU Grossman School of Medicine – Bellevue Hospital Center
Dr. Tomopoulos is the Medical Director of Pediatric Ambulatory Care at Bellevue Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. At Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Tomopoulos provides direct patient care and supervises pediatric residents and medical students as a primary care pediatrician, in both outpatient primary care and the newborn nursery.
Dr. Tomopoulos’ focus in pediatrics has been on identifying and addressing social determinants within pediatric clinical practice that have the potential to mitigate the impacts of poverty and enhance outcomes across the life-course. She is the pediatric physician lead at Bellevue for the 3-2-1 IMPACT (Integrated Model for Parents and Children Together) which includes Healthy Steps, PlayReadVIP and Reach Out and Read. 3-2-1 IMPACT, is an initiative to transform the model of Pediatric Primary Care delivered within NYC Health + Hospitals, addressing the full range of child and family needs to prevent health disparities in early childhood 0-5 years. Dr. Tomopoulos also collaborated with colleagues in child and adolescent psychiatry and social work to develop pediatric primary care-based maternal and adolescent depression screening protocols and a system of co-location of mental health collaborative care services in pediatric primary care for children and adolescents.
Dr. Tomopoulos’ research has focused on parent-child interactions and digital media. Nationally, she has served two three-year terms on the Executive Committee for the Council on Communication and Media/ American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In this role, she co-updated the AAP Family Media Plan and is a co-author on the AAP Policy Statement and Tech Report, titled Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents. She was the AAP liaison for the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, a national board of media industry experts and public interest advocates, until 2023 .
Resources
Recording
The recording will be shared following the event.