Dr. Trenesha Hill holds the academic rank of Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She has a program of research that focuses on addressing mental health and educational disparities by promoting socioemotional development and academic functioning in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism, ADHD, learning disabilities) and children who live in poverty, particularly racial and ethnic minority children. Specifically, her program of research involves investigating: (1) mechanisms of psychopathology in youth with autism, (2) determinants of disparities among low-income children and children with autism, and (3) the translation of evidence-based programs in community settings.
Dr. Hill started her postsecondary education at Tulane University in New Orleans. As the older sister of an individual with cerebral palsy and learning disabilities, she started college with the goal of helping children with developmental disabilities by becoming a pediatrician. Therefore, she started out as a pre-med student with a major in Cellular and Molecular Biology. As she progressed through her pre-med courses, she wasn’t happy with her studies and began enrolling in psychology courses as electives. During her junior year, she shadowed a psychologist at the Autism Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, which solidified the shift in her academic interests and career path to psychology. As a senior, she completed an independent research study focused on examining factors associated with anxiety in autistic children, which spurred her passion for research. She graduated from Tulane with a double major in Psychology and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
After graduating from Tulane, Dr. Hill worked for Head Start and for a company that provides home and community services for individuals with developmental disabilities. To best serve children with developmental disabilities and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, she enrolled in the 4+1 master’s program in Psychology at Tulane, and continued towards the PhD in Psychology after earning her master’s degree. During her graduate training, her research career flourished and she received several research grants to support her research endeavors. Her professional training concluded with a combined clinical and research postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Licensure:
Licensed Psychologist: Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas
Education:
2010 B.S. (Psychology and Cellular and Molecular Biology) - Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2013 M.S. (Psychology) - Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2018 Ph.D. (School Psychology) - Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2018-2020 - Postdoctoral Fellowship, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Track, Children’s Hospital Colorado
Select Scholarly Works:
Pickford, D. Y., Hill, T. L., Arora, P. G., & Baker, C. N. (2021). Prevention of conduct problems in integrated pediatric primary care. In W. O’Donohue & M. Zimmermann (Eds.), Handbook of Evidence-Based Prevention of Behavioral Disorders in Integrated Care. New York: Springer.
Hill, T. L., White, T.C., Anthony, B., Reaven, J., Harris, B., Reyes, N., & Anthony, L. G. (2021). Disparities in autism spectrum disorder diagnoses among 8-year-old children in Colorado: Who are we missing? Autism, 25(1), 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320950058
Harris, B., Reyes, N., & Hill, T. L. (2020). Clinical and school identification and intervention for youth with ASD: Culturally and linguistically responsive interdisciplinary considerations. In M. McClain Verdoes, K. Mezher, & J. Shahidullah (Eds.). Interdisciplinary Care Coordination for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. New York: Springer.
Smith, T., Hill, T. L., White, T. C., Reaven, J., Harris, B., Reyes, N., Anthony, B. J. Anthony, L. (2020, May). Missed diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder after initial negative developmental evaluation. Poster e-presented at the International Society for Autism Research. Seattle, Washington.
Hill, T. L., White, T.C., Harris, B., Robinson Rosenberg, C. & Anthony, L. (2019, May). Factors associated with missed ASD identification among children in Colorado. Poster presented at the International Society for Autism Research. Montreal, Canada.
Hill, T.L., Kenworthy, L., Anthony, B. J., Troxel, M., Verbalis, A., & Anthony, L. (2019, May). The moderating effects of implementation factors on improvement in classroom behaviors in Unstuck and on Target and Contingency Behavior Management. Poster presented at the International Society for Autism Research. Montreal, Canada.
Baker, C. N., Saybe, M., Black, C. L., Coriano, V., Hill, T. L., & Moberg, S. (2019, March). A pilot feasibility study of the Pre-K TIPS coaching model in preschools serving low-income children. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Hill, T. L., Obstfeld, R. S., Kupersmidt, J. B, & Baker, C. N. (2017, May). Ecological correlates of teacher (mis)perceptions: Understanding discrepancies in teacher predictions of low-income preschoolers’ pre-academic skills. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Prevention Research. Washington, D.C.
Hill, T. L., Gray, S. A.O., Baker, C. N., Boggs, K., Carey, E., Johnson, C., Kamps, J., & Varela, R. E. (2017). A pilot study examining the effectiveness of the PEERS program on social skills and anxiety in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 29(5), 797-808. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-017-9557-x