Our Staff

Michele Ybarra MPH PhD, President and Research Director.
Dr. Ybarra is a recognized researcher in technology-related health issues for young people. She has published extensively in the areas of Internet harassment and other types of online victimization, health information seeking, and research methods as they relate to technology. She is the recipient of four NIH-funded R01 grants: one which aims to develop and test an Internet-based HIV prevention program for adolescents in Mbarara, Uganda (R01 MH080662); and one which endeavors to better understand the positive and negative experiences of LGBT and non-LGBT youth online via a national survey (R01HD057191); one which will identify youth characteristics related to the emergence of sexual violence over time (R01 CE001543); and one which develops and tests a text messaging-based smoking cessation program in Ankara, Turkey (R01TW007918).

Past funding has included a cooperative agreement with the CDC to research the longitudinal associations between exposure to violent new media and seriously violent behavior through a national survey called Growing up with Media (U49 CE000206).  Dr. Ybarra holds a doctorate in child mental health services research and evaluation from the department of mental health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She was a pre-doctoral fellow of the National Institutes of Mental Health and was a joint fellow of the American Schools of Public Health / Centers for Disease Control.

Joseph R. Schwab, CTO / Creative Director.
With ten years of professional experience in Interactive Design, Development and Advertising, Joseph Schwab has been at the forefront of online advertising and website development since the Internet gained prominence in the late 1990’s. Mr. Schwab has accumulated invaluable experience with world class brands like: Apple, MTV, Pepsi One, Sony Playstation, Nissan, Infiniti, Acura, Samsung, Olympus America, Experian, Kyocera, Namco, working with top advertising agencies including: TBWA/Chiat/Day, The Designory, Deutsch LA, Genex, Truth Agency and most recently heading Orange County based Interactive Design Firm, Open Interactive, Inc.

Kimberly J. Mitchell PhD, Research Scientist.
Her areas of research include youth Internet use and aggression, as well as the perpetration of Internet sex crimes against minors.Additionally, Dr. Mitchell has extensive experience in child victimization more generally, including the impact of youth exposure to family violence. She has directed and/or co-directed several projects including the First and Second Youth Internet Safety Studies, the Survey of Internet Mental Health Issues, the First and Second National Juvenile Online Victimization Studies, and the National Juvenile Prostitution Study. She also has received a grant from the National Institute of Justice to investigate the commercial exploitation of children through the Internet.

Josephine Korchmaros PhD, Biostatistician
Dr. Korchmaros is an expert statistician and research methodologist. She earned her PhD in Social Psychology and a Graduate Certificate in Quantitative Research Methods in Psychological Science from the University of Connecticut under the tutelage of David A. Kenny, an expert statistician and research methodologist with particular expertise in program evaluation. Dr. Korchmaros has 7 years experience as a statistical consultant to local and national entities on federally and privately funded research. She has also published on higher-level statistics and has 6 years experience as an undergraduate and graduate-level instructor of statistics and research methods.In addition, Dr. Korchmaros is an experienced PI and program evaluator.She has 10 years experience actively conducting all aspects of research with 8 years in research project management as PI and project director. She has conducted family, youth, social, health, marketing, and psychological research. Her research during the past 5 years has evaluated the effectiveness of educational programs, and of criminal justice-related and health-related prevention and intervention programs involving multiple components.

Robert Smith, Grant Administrator.
Mr. Smith has a Masters in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa through the East-West Center. His background is in finance and economics where he formerly worked as an oil and natural gas consultant for East of Suez markets.