Kayla de la Haye, PhD
Director, Research Development
SC CTSI Role
As Director of the Research Development core, Dr. de la Haye provides leadership in investigator and research development, initiatives that support team science, and the SC CTSI Pilot Funding Program.
Her primary role is to lead team science initiatives, which apply principles of team science to help multi-disciplinary, multi-sector, and community-engaged teams conduct impactful clinical and translational research. Drawing on her expertise in behavioral science and the network science of teams, she works with the Research Development core and external experts to develop tools, best practices, and institutional supports for conducting and evaluating team science. The activities and training programs she helps to develop and deliver support the assembly and successful launch of new interdisciplinary research teams, and the ongoing sustainability and success of teams as they work together on research projects.
Dr. de la Haye also provides leadership on the SC CTSI Pilot Funding Program, which continues to be a major catalyst for the development of new interdisciplinary research teams and projects across USC, CHLA and with other CTSA hubs. Through these and related activities, Dr. de la Haye leads the Research Development core in supporting the development of research and the people working together to conduct this research, so that they can successfully address important clinical and community health challenges and improve the wellbeing of diverse communities.
Contact Information
Professional Background
Dr. de la Haye leads research in public health that tackles complex problems, like unhealthy diets, food insecurity, and disparities in chronic disease, using systems science and network science methods to understand these issues and implement ‘systemic’ solutions. She is a currently a Research Scientist at the Center for Economic and Social Research at the University of Southern California (USC), and prior to that was an Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Her research, funded by the NIH, the NSF, and the DoD, applies social network analysis and systems science to promote healthy eating, food security, healthy lifestyles, and health equity across communities. She also studies the role of social networks and systems in group problem solving in families, teams, and coalitions. She serves as the Vice President of the International Network of Social Network Analysis (INSNA), and in 2018, she received the INSNA Freeman Award for significant contributions to the study of social structure. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Adelaide, Australia.
Interests
Dr. de la Haye loves travelling to old homes and new places; live music; cooking and eating with friends, family and strangers; snowboarding in beautiful mountains; and long dog walks with audio-books.