In high school, Justin Parent '11, PhD'17 wished for rain every day.
The Quebec-born, Vermont-raised Catamount worked in construction at the time.
Rain meant being spared from having to shingle a roof.
"While carpentry is a fulfilling and important job for some," he reflects, "I knew that it was not the job that would inspire me to wake up every day looking forward to coming in to work."
The first-generation college student enrolled at UVM with a growing interest in clinical psychology and issues of psychopathology.
From there, he followed his passions and now runs Kids Development and Stress (KiDS) Lab at the University of Rhode Island (URI), where he is also an Assistant Professor.
Less than a decade after earning his PhD at UVM, Parent's accomplishments have already garnered national acclaim.
Most recently, he received the prestigious 2025 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Biden (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists early in their careers.
"I was excited and deeply honored to be selected for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers," Parent shares. "Not many psychologists receive this kind of award, so it served as validation that integrating physical and mental health to support child development is a valued area of research that could have a real-world impact."
Barely on the heels of the PECASE, Parent has also received the Richard Abidin Early Career Award for his research from Division 53 of the American Psychological Association (APA).
HIS UVM JOURNEY
Parent began his UVM journey as a psychology major and a research assistant in Dr. Michael Zvolensky's Anxiety and Health Research Lab. This work led to an Honors College URECA grant, enabling the group to examine the specificity of anxiety sensitivity relating to bodily sensations among adults with HIV/AIDS.
"Being a first-generation college student was intimidating," Parent reflects, "but UVM has so many opportunities to help students thrive and launch their careers!"
Parent soon realized he wanted to pursue a PhD.
He stayed involved in research to remain competitive for a doctoral program.
Parent shifted his primary research focus to clinical child psychology during his last two years of undergrad, under the tutelage of Dr. Rex Forehand, Heinz and Rowena Ansbacher Green and Gold Professor in Psychology, who would become his mentor.
This enabled Parent to work on several clinical research projects centered on children experiencing familial stress, who are consequently at greater risk for developing mental illness.
Through helping at-risk kids and their families, Parent found his calling.
"I was interested in helping children by supporting healthy family dynamics," he shares.
Working at Dr. Forehand's laboratory became a joy for Parent -- on and through the rainy days.
When it came time for graduate school, Parent felt drawn to the stellar reputation of the PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychology program housed in UVM's Department of Psychological Science in the College of Arts and Sciences.
This, coupled with the strong working relationship he'd built with Dr. Forehand during his undergraduate years, made graduate studies at UVM the clear and rewarding choice.
In his graduate years, Parent had a brief trip abroad studying at the University of Oxford's Oxford Mindfulness Research Center, through the help of a training grant.
He received numerous awards for his work, including the American Psychological Association's Division 53 Student Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of clinical and adolescent psychology.
"Clinical psychology allowed me to get clinical training while also engaging in NIH-funded research studies."
Parent earned his PhD in 2017. He matched for his clinical residency at the Clinical Psychology Training Consortium in the Brown University Alpert Medical School, which helped supplement the robust training he received at UVM.
He misses the Burlington area, especially walking around campus ensconced by its historic buildings, and "seeing the rolling mountains."
A warm memory: an epic snowball fight spanning the entirety of campus during his earlier UVM years.
In the same breath, he says he misses working through big ideas with Dr. Forehand in Dewey Hall.
FINDING HIS PLACE IN THE SUN
"My mentor, Rex Forehand, supported my development and career," Parent reflects.
"During my undergraduate studies, my debate and effective speaking courses with Professor David Register and at the debate union were central to developing skills that would translate to many areas."
These days, Parent shapes the lives of his own students at URI. There, he teaches in the psychology department and facilitates student-assisted research as the director of KiDS Lab, which focuses on supporting "family-wide mental health through innovative research, treatment, and training."
Their work at KiDS Lab is driven by basic research questions -- like how environment can shape gene expression across generations (epigenomics) -- alongside a passion to help families thrive and be resilient to stress.
"UVM provided world-class opportunities for engagement in NIH-funded research that helped build my career, starting early, in my undergraduate years."
Parent has now authored over 100 peer-reviewed studies, with research supported by grants from: the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD); the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); National Institute of General Medical Services (NIGMS), and others.
His work has been recognized through several awards, in addition to the aforementioned, including the NIH/OBSSR Early State Investigator Award and Association for Psychological Science (APS) Rising Star.
Gone for Parent are the days of wishing on rain. He now sits poised in the glow of the sun.
Read About More Alumni Lives
UVM Alumni are living rich lives, doing astounding and impactful work in many fields, in communities around Vermont, across the US, and around the world. Here are just a few of the stories we've gotten to share recently:
Alumni Spotlight: Justin Parent '11, PhD'17
Lisa Wartenberg Vélez
Feb 27, 2025