Molly Franz, a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology, received a 2018-19 Presidential Graduate Fellowship from the University of Nebraska.
Franz' primary career objectives are to conduct research and provide clinical services to trauma-exposed populations. She is particularly interested in understanding and preventing the adverse effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on intimate partner and parent-child relationships.
The prestigious fellowships are awarded to a select group of NU graduate students each year on the basis of high scholastic performance and personal accomplishment. Fellows receive a stipend provided through the University of Nebraska Foundation that allows them to pursue their studies full-time.
"Our Presidential Graduate Fellow are some of the best and brightest students at the University of Nebraska – exactly the type of talented, driven, creative scholars we want to represent our university and state," University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds said. "We are fortunate to enjoy a level of private support that allows these students to devote themselves fully to their studies and research. I'm confident we will see great things from them in the future."
Under the mentorship of David DiLillo, Franz has published a number of peer-reviewed papers and obtained multiple sources of funding for her research, including an F31 fellowship training grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Her dissertation investigates the impact of maternal PTSD on parenting behaviors. The aims of the study are to observe how mothers with PTSD respond to child misbehavior, and to examine emotional and biological mechanisms that may account for their parenting behaviors.
