Melissa Merrick, PhD
Melissa T. Merrick is President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, the nation’s oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. She has nearly 20 years of clinical, research, and leadership experience related to the etiology, course, and prevention of child abuse and neglect.
Previously, Dr. Merrick was a senior epidemiologist at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in Atlanta, and served on a detail in the Office of the Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families. In partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Child Abuse and Neglect, she served as the lead scientist for the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study at CDC for 8 years. Dr. Merrick successfully leverages her clinical and research experiences to communicate and disseminate the critical public health importance of preventing early adversity to key stakeholders with diverse priorities, backgrounds, and knowledge, including legislators, business and civic leaders, and members of the academic and medical communities.
Dr. Merrick received her BA in psychology, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, joint doctoral program in clinical psychology, where she served as a program coordinator for the San Diego site of the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect consortium. Dr. Merrick was a National Institutes of Health-funded postdoctoral fellow at the University of Miami Child Protection Team (CPT), where she was involved in a multi-site program of research that examined child maltreatment risk and protective factors in families evaluated by CPTs across the state of Florida.
Dr. Merrick is married and has two young children who keep her grounded, thankful, and hopeful for a brighter future for all children.
Resources and blog posts
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Economic Burden of Known Child Maltreatment Cases in 2018 by State
This study provides social work and other advocates with state-level estimates of the economic burden of child maltreatment and facilitates the interpretation of the findings to be used in advocacy efforts.
Research Reviews
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A Back-to-school Message from Dr. Melissa Merrick
In this video, Dr. Melissa Merrick reinforces the importance “to create the safe, stable, and nurturing environments and relationships that enable our children to succeed and thrive.”
Videos & Podcasts
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Taking ACES Upstream: Strengthening Prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences
This report addresses the continued findings and research from the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES) Study, which has identified robust associations between a child experiencing early trauma and a wide array of poor health, economic, and life outcomes.
Affinity Group Reports
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