Dr. Dalen is a Research Assistant Professor in the UNM Department of Pediatrics and has been an Associate Research Scientist at the Oregon Research Institute; Center for Family and Adolescent Research (ORI-CFAR) since completing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of New Mexico in 2008.  Her expertise in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine research is informed by over 13 years’ experience conducting both research and clinical work with chronic illness populations including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.  In her role at the University of New Mexico, she is devoted to developing a comprehensive research program for obesity and metabolic disorders in pediatric populations.  Current projects include assisting in the development of a multi-disciplinary education program for the UNM Healthy and Fit Teen Obesity Clinic and a recently funded R34 early phase clinical research study to adapt and pilot a family-based mindful eating intervention for overweight adolescents in which she is the principal investigator on.  The 3-year study, funded by the National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, is one of the first treatment development efforts to integrate mindfulness techniques with family-based factors for overweight adolescents. 

In addition, she works in both a clinical and research capacity with family-based adolescent treatment programs for depression and substance abuse, factors affecting the informed consent process for families considering adolescent and child participation in biomedical clinical trials, and the use of web-based technologies and social networking to improve population research literacy in adolescent obesity and diabetes research.