The FCHIP Team
Craig Garfield, MD, MAPP
Attending Physician
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Professor of Pediatrics (Hospital-Based Medicine) and Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Craig Garfield, MD, introduced the Family & Child Health Innovations Program in 2020 as a way to improve child health outcomes by understanding of the roles of parents in a wide variety of family contexts, and identifying how to enhance parental contributions to children’s health and development.
Dr. Garfield is a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medical Social Science at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and an attending physician at Ann & Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. He focuses on child health within the context of the family, with an emphasis on the social influencers of health, the role of fathers and special attention to the ability of technology to support parenting.
JJ Parker, MD, MPH
Attending Physician
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
JJ Parker, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. He is an attending physician at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital and Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. His research focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of families by promoting men's health and paternal involvement in childcare.
Clarissa Simon, PhD, MPH
Research Scientist
Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research, and Evaulation Center
Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Clarissa Simon, PhD, MPH, is a health scientist with an educational background in epidemiology, child development, social physiology, neuropsychology, and social policy. Her research interests include family health and contexts, parental stress, and biological correlates of parenting behaviors during the transition to parenthood. While not working as the research coordinator for FCHIP, she is a devoted mother to three children, ranging in age from toddler to teen.
Candace Jarzombek, MPH
Behaviorial Research Coordinator II
Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research, and Evaulation Center
Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Candace Jarzombek, MPH, is passionate about advancing child health and family wellbeing through trauma-informed and equity-centered approaches. She earned a Master of Public Health with certificates in Community Health and Maternal and Child Health from Boston University. Candace has experience supporting state maternal and child health agencies through program planning, evaluation, and technical assistance. She joined Lurie Children’s and FCHIP in August 2023, and enjoys collaborating with the FCHIP team and state maternal and child health leaders to learn more about the role fathers play in their children’s health.
