Carol Metzler, PhD, is a Senior Scientist and the Science Director at ORI. As a scientist, she conducts research on parenting practices and child development and evaluates the efficacy of family interventions for reducing or preventing behavior problems in children. She is particularly interested in research on promoting a public health framework for improving parenting practices and in evaluating the effects of delivering parenting supports through technology-based approaches. She is currently involved in projects to develop and evaluate programs that harness smart-speaker, mobile app, and website technology to deliver evidence-based parenting supports to families. Target settings of key interest for reaching families are pediatric primary care and family-serving agencies.

In addition, Dr. Metzler has also engaged in efforts to summarize what is known about evidence-based programs for children and families and to investigate how these programs can be effectively moved into practice through better integration of science, practice, and policy. As Science Director at ORI, Dr. Metzler works to strengthen ORI’s science and scientists, build strategic partnerships between ORI and other research and practice entities, and ensure that ORI continues to provide an optimally supportive environment for world-class behavioral research.