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Anna Katharine Ettinger, PhD, MPH, MSW

  • Senior Research Scientist
  • Assistant Professor

Ettinger, is a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and a senior research scientist on the Pittsburgh Study in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Ettinger received her Bachelor of Science degree from the Pennsylvania State University, her Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland, her Master of Public Health and Doctor of Philosophy from the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Ettinger worked as a Senior Lead Scientist with Booz Allen Hamilton, a federal consulting firm in Washington, DC. She conducted health research and evaluations for federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Office on Women’s Health, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Ettinger is a social and behavioral scientist focused on community-partnered research aimed at improving maternal and child health. She has over ten years of experience in mixed method studies, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, longitudinal studies, survey research, research on health disparities and social influences of health. She is implementing the Pittsburgh Study, a longitudinal, community-partnered study of interventions designed to improve child and youth health, thriving, and equity. Her research has contributed to our understanding of how early caregiving and social factors influence child health and development. She is experienced in engaging community partners to reach at-risk populations, including low-income ethnically diverse families and women and children impacted by depression, homelessness, and HIV/AIDS. 

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships:

  • Society for Prevention research, 2020-Present
  • American Evaluation Association,2017-Present
  • Project Management Institute, 2017-2020
  • Society for Research in Child Development, 2012-2013
  • National Association of Social WOrkers, 2006-Present
  • American Public Health Association, 2005-2008

Education & Training

  • BS, Life Science, The Pennsylvania State University, 2001
  • MSW, Child, Adolescent and Family Health Specialization, University of Maryland School of Social Work, 2005
  • MPH, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2005
  • PhD, Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2013

Selected Publications

Ettinger, AK, Ray, KN, Burke, JG, Thompson, J, Chavis, V, Cole, S, Jenks, T & Miller, E. (2020). A community partnered approach for defining child and youth thriving. Academic Pediatrics, In press.

Ettinger, AK, Riley, AW, & Price, CE. (2018). Increasing Maternal Employment Influences Child Overweight/Obesity Among Ethnically Diverse Families. Journal of Family Issues, 39(1), 2836-2861.

Ettinger, AK, Riley, AW, Colantuoni, E, & Mendelson, T. (2018). Trajectories of Early Parenting Practices among Low-Income Ethnically Diverse Women. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(2), 615-628. 

Bevans, KB, Riley, AW, Landgraf, JM, Teneralli, R, Fiese, B, Meltzer, L, Ettinger, A, Becker, B, & Forrest, CB. (2017). Children's family experiences: development of the PROMIS® pediatric family relationships measures. Quality of Life Research, 26(11), 3011-3023.  

Robbins, S, Ettinger, AK, Keefe, C, Riley, A, Surkan, PJ (2017). Low-income urban mothers' experiences with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: "It helps keep food in me and my daughter's mouth.” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 117(10): 1538 – 1553. 

Surkan, PJ, Ettinger, AK, Hock, RS, Ahmed, S, Strobino, D & Minkovitz, C, (2014). Early maternal depressive symptoms and child growth trajectories: a longitudinal analysis of a nationally representative US birth cohort. BMC Pediatrics, 14, 185-192. 

Surkan, PJ, Ettinger, AK, Minkovitz, C, Ahmed, S, & Strobino, D. (2012). Impact of maternal depressive symptoms on growth of pre-school and school-age children. Pediatrics, 130(4), e847-55.

Perry, D, Ettinger, AK, Mendelson, T, & Le, H-N. (2011). Prenatal depression predicts postpartum maternal attachment in low-income Latina mothers with infants. Infant Behavior and Development, 34(2), 339-50.

Pastor, PN, Reuben, CA, & Falkenstern, A. (2006). Parental Reports of Emotional or Behavioral Difficulties and Mental Health Service Use among U.S. School-Age Children. IN

View MyNCBI Bibliography » 

Academic and Research Interests

  • Early child health and development
  • Public health
  • Maternal and child health
  • Social epidemiology
  • Social determinants of health
  • Mental health
  • Longitudinal data analysis
  • Mixed methods
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Health disparities and equity
  • Survey design and implementation
  • Project management
  • Public health program planning and evaluation

Research Grants

Severity Predictors Integrating Transcriptomics and proteomics of Saliva with Multi neural network Intelligence in SARS- CoV2 infedtion in Children (Spits MISc), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2021-2024

3R01MD013797 - 02W1, Urgent Revision to Creating Peace: Community-level Intervention to Reduce Youth Violence, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, 2020-2021

The Pittsburgh Study: Longitudinal Research on Child Health, Shear Family Foundation/ Grable Foundation/ UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2018-2021