College of Education and Human Development

Institute of Child Development

Tori Simenec

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Doctoral Candidate

  • Institute of Child Development
    Carmen D. and James R. Campbell Hall
    51 East River Parkway
    Minneapolis, MN 55455

  • sime0060@umn.edu
Tori Simenec

Areas of interest

Adolescents and youth; Culture, cross-culture; Prevention/intervention

Degrees

Bachelor of Science Psychology, University of Minnesota, 2015
Masters of Arts, Developmental Psychology, University of Minnesota, 2022

Biography

Tori Simenec is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Science at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. Her program of research investigates developmental and cultural tailoring of health messages including interventions and dissemination materials designed to increase positive health outcomes in historically underserved populations. Specifically, she is interested in increasing the relevance and engagement of empirical programs for individuals and families that experience high levels of stress including poverty, forced migration, trauma, or discrimination through cultural adaptation and innovative dissemination strategies using community-engaged transdisciplinary team science.

Developmental psychopathology and clinical science community/clinical work

In my clinical training, I have primarily worked with middle childhood and adolescent populations and their families to deliver evidence-based integrative cognitive-behavioral interventions for a broad range of clinical presentations. I have an emerging interest in treating pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety. In conjunction with my research, my clinical training has also focused on providing culturally and contextually responsive care.

Publications

Simenec, T. S., Ibrahim, S. A., Gillespie, S., Banegas, J., & Ferguson, G. M. (2024). Feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness pilot study of a culturally adapted and digitized food-focused media Literacy intervention: JUS Media? Global Classroom–Somali American. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 1-12.

Simenec, T.S., Gillespie, S., Hodges, H.R., Ibrahim, S., Eckerstorfer, S., JUS Media? Adaptation Team, & Ferguson G.M. (2023). A novel blueprint storyboarding method using digitization for efficient cultural adaptation of prevention programs to serve diverse youth and communities. Prevention Science, 24(4), 688-700.

Simenec, T. S., Banegas, J., Parra‐Cardona, J. R., & Gewirtz, A. H. (2023). Culturally responsive, targeted social media marketing to facilitate engagement with a digital parenting program. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(5), 1425-1437.

Simenec, T. S., & Reid, B. M. (2022). Refugee Children and Interventions for Depression: A Review of Current Interventions and Implications of the Ecological Context. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(3), 877-890.