Lisa-Christine Girard

Lecturer

Biography

Background

Prior to joining the Clinical Psychology Department here in Edinburgh, I held a Research fellowship in Bordeaux, France, based in the Bordeaux Population Health, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Research Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatics, U1219 Healthy team.  

Previous to this appointment, I held a Marie Curie Research Fellowship (International Incoming Fellow; under the 7th Framework Programmes) at the University College Dublin, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sport Science, cross appointed with the Geary Institute for Public Policy.

I also held a Research Fellowship at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, France which was jointly appointed by the Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP), University of Montreal, Canada.

My background training has been multidisciplinary whereby I received my Ph.D in Speech-Language Pathology from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, a Master in Education specializing in Human Development and Applied Psychology from OISE/University of Toronto, and an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology, from the University of Toronto. Developmental psychology and public health encompasses the cornerstone of my research agenda.

The majority of my research to date has been conducted with population-based cohorts, which include cohorts from across Great Britain, Europe, and North America. 

 

Qualifications

2017. Research Fellow. Bordeaux Population Health, Inserm Research Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatics, U1219 team Healthy, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.

2015-2017. Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow, FP7. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Sports Science and the Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin.

2013-2015. Research Fellow. Joint appointment with the Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP), University of Montreal, and Paris-Sud Innovation Group in Adolescent Mental Health, Inserm U669, Paris, France.

2013. Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto.

2009. Masters of Education, Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/ University of Toronto.

2007. Honours Bachelor of Science, Departments of Psychology and Women and Gender Studies, University of Toronto.

Responsibilities & affiliations

2015-Present. Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland. Member.

2014-Present. Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA). Member.

Research summary

My overarching research program has been geared towards a better understanding of the ways in which social-behavioural (particular focus on aggression, conduct problems, peer exclusion and prosocial behaviour) and cognitive development (particular focus on language and literacy) in early childhood are connected. I have examined a wide range of possible determinants of these developmental outcomes such as breastfeeding, within child factors, the family environment and parenting practices, the classroom environment, and teacher training, combining multidisciplinary approaches and specialised statistical techniques to better understand possible causal paths.  

Keywords: aggression, conduct problems, peer exclusion, prosocial behaviours, language development, breastfeeding, population cohorts, quantitative analysis.

Current research interests

My major research interests include: Social-behavioural development; Externalising problems; Aggression; Conduct problems; Language development; Emergent literacy development; Breastfeeding; Perinatal risk factors; Fetal programming.

Invited speaker

  1. Girard, L.C. UCD Childhood and Human Development Research Centre (CHD-RC) launch, December 12th, 2016, Dublin, Ireland.
  2. Girard, L.C.  Big Data at the heart of 21st Century Research, University of Edinburgh, September 29th, 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland.
  3. Girard, L.C. Telethon Kids, February 16th, 2016, West Perth, Australia.
  4. Girard, L.C. The Life Course Centre, University of Queensland, February 11th, 2016 Brisbane Australia
  5. Girard, L.C. The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, February 25th, 2016, Melbourne Australia.
  6. Girard, L.C. The Conseil des investigateurs de l’étude EDEN, l’amphithéâtre Lapersonne de l'Hôtel Dieu, September 28th, 2015, Paris, France.
  7. Girard, L.C. Inserm U669 (PSIGIAM: Paris-Sud innovation group in adolescent mental health), June 16th, 2015.
  8. Girard, L.C. University College Dublin, School of Psychology Seminar Series, November 24th, 2015, Dublin, Ireland.
  9. Girard, L.C. University College Dublin, Geary Seminar Series, September 15th 2015, Dublin, Ireland.
  10. Girard, L.C. University College Dublin, Geary Summer Symposium on Early Childhood Research, July 15th, 2015, Dublin, Ireland.

Papers delivered

  1. Girard, L.C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R.E. The 2017 Criminology Symposium, June 19th-21st, 2017, Stockholm, Sweden.
  2. Girard, L.C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R.E. Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, April 6th-8th, 2017, Austin Texas, USA.
  3. Girard, L.C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R.E. The Growing Up in Ireland Annual Research Conference, November 3rd 2016, Dublin, Ireland.
  4. Girard, L.C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R.E. The 24th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, July 10-14th, 2016, Vilnius, Lithuania.
  5. Girard, L.C., et al. The 15th World  Congress of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, May 29th – June 2nd,  2016, Prague, Czech Republic.
  6. Girard, L.C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R.E. The Children’s Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland Annual Research Conference, December 10th, 2015, Dublin, Ireland.
  7. Girard, L.C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R.E. The Growing Up in Ireland Annual Research Conference, December 3rd 2015, Dublin, Ireland.
  8. Girard, L.C., Pingault, J.B., Doyle, O., Falissard, B., & Tremblay, R.E.  CLOSER conference “The importance of early years, childhood and adolescence: Evidence from longitudinal studies”, November 30th, 2015, London, United Kingdom.
  9. Girard, L.C., Pingault, J.B., Doyle, O., Falissard, B., & Tremblay, R.E. The 23rd European Congress of Psychiatry (EPA), March 28-31st, 2015, Vienna, Austria.
  10. Girard, L.C., Pingault, J.B., Doyle, O., Falissard, B., & Tremblay, R.E.  The Annual International Conference of the Association of Psychology and Psychiatry for Adults and Children (APPAC) May 19-22nd, 2015, Athens, Greece.
  11. Sarot, A., Girard, L.C., Chomentowski, M., Falissard, B., & Moro, M.R. The International Symposium on Education and Psychology, April 1-3rd, 2015, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  12. Girard, L. C., Pingault, J.B., Falissard, B., Boivin, M., Dionne, G., & Tremblay, R.E. The International Association for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP), August 11-14th, 2014, Durban, South Africa.
  13. Girard, L.C., Girolametto, L. The Connaught Global Challenge International Symposium, September 27-29th, 2012, Toronto, Canada.
  14. Girard, L.C., Girolametto, L. The International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD), July 8-12th, 2012, Edmonton, Canada.
  15. Girard, L.C., Girolametto, L., Weitzman, E. & Greenberg, J.  The 12th International Congress for the Study in Child Language, July 19-23rd, 2011, Montreal, Canada.
  16. Kiefer, H., Chen, X. & Girard, L.  The 15th Annual Meeting Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, July 2008, North Carolina, United States.
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