Carrie Quinn, MD

Executive Director

Executive Director, The Mount Sinai Parenting Center Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Quinn received her undergraduate degree in Science-Business from the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Quinn completed her residency in Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center in the Boston Combined Residency Program. She is a board certified pediatrician and worked in private practice in Queens for many years prior to joining the Faculty Practice within the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she taught medical students, residents and mentored MD-PhD students in her clinical practice. Dr. Quinn has worked as the executive director of the Mount Sinai Parenting Center since its inception in 2014.

Blair Hammond, MD

Co-Founding Director and Director of Medical Education

Co-Founding Director and Director of Medical Education, The Mount Sinai Parenting Center

Dr. Blair Hammond is a board certified pediatrician who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She also completed her medical training at Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center and was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society. She pursued a residency training in Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and received the Clinician-Educator Award. Dr. Hammond completed a medical education fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and was the Pediatric Clerkship and Sub-Internship Course Director from 2006-2017. In 2008, Dr. Hammond founded the General Pediatrics Faculty Practice where she still practices today. In 2010, she was awarded the Mount Sinai Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Hammond is now the Co-Founding Director and Director of Medical Education for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center. Dr. Hammond continues to be involved in medical student and resident education in addition to her general pediatric practice. She lives with her husband and 3 children in Westchester.

Aliza W. Pressman, PhD

Co-Founding Director and Director of Clinical Programming

Co-Founding Director and Director of Clinical Programming, The Mount Sinai Parenting Center, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Host of Raising Good Humans Podcast, Author of NYT bestselling book The Five Principles of Parenting

Dr. Aliza Pressman is a developmental psychologist with nearly two decades of experience working with families and the health care providers who care for them. Aliza is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Division of Behavioral Health in the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital where she is co-founding director of The Mount Sinai Parenting Center. Aliza is the host of the award winning podcast, Raising Good Humans and author of New York Times bestselling book, The Five Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans. She holds a BA from Dartmouth College, an MA in Risk, Resilience and Prevention from the Department of Human Development at Teacher’s College and her PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Aliza also holds a teaching certificate in mindfulness and meditation from The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley. Aliza is the mother of two teenagers.

Mariel Benjamin, LCSW

Director of Programs

Director of Programs, The Mount Sinai Parenting Center, Teaching Assistant, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Ms. Benjamin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York City with over 15 years of experience at Mount Sinai Medical Center working with families and children. She received her B.A. and B.S. summa cum laude from Northwestern University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University. In addition to serving as the Program Director at the Mount Sinai Parenting Center, she is on faculty at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health. She is certified in parent management training from the Yale Parenting Center and is a trained facilitator of Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs.

Chelsea McGowen

Project Manager

Chelsea comes to the Parenting Center after receiving her Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Cornell University where she studied Psychology and worked as a research assistant in a developmental psychology laboratory. With particular interests in outreach and development, she is passionate about the Parenting Center’s mission of increasing the accessibility of developmental research to families.

Nora Engeldrum

Project Coordinator

Nora comes to the Parenting Center after spending four years providing administrative support in a non-profit setting, with a focus on tutoring and educational advocacy for underserved youth from across New York City. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at the Macaulay Honors College at Lehman College, CUNY. She is passionate about the Parenting Center’s mission to support families within the healthcare field.

Alice Bradley

Associate Director of Operations and Team Management

Associate Director of Operations and Team Management

Alice is a seasoned strategy and operations leader specializing in high-impact programs serving children and families. With 10 years of experience managing complex projects and operations, Alice’s work in two-generational early childhood development has included coalition building for child and family health, family engagement and empowerment, citywide initiatives supporting trauma-informed care, workforce development for early childhood education, large-scale grant implementation for Head Start programming, and strategic advocacy to elevate family voice in early childhood policy. Previously, Alice managed strategic health initiatives at Bank Street College of Education, where she led schools and families through the COVID-19 pandemic. She drove operations for family engagement in early childhood at the NYC Department of Education, and supported special projects for child and family wellbeing at the NYC Administration for Children’s Services. Through her independent consulting work in PreK-12 workforce development, Alice has piloted innovative programs in social-emotional learning and culturally responsive practice. Alice graduated with honors from The New School in New York City as a member of the inaugural Cohort-21 Fellowship. She completed her Americorps service in 2017, and is a 2018 Education Pioneers Fellowship recipient.

Roxanna Morse

Program Assistant

Roxanna comes to the Parenting Center after receiving her Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College where her focus was in History and Art History. With a background as a literacy tutor at an underserved public elementary school in Brooklyn, Roxanna is dedicated to providing access to healthy development for all children and has a solid understanding of the many factors that contribute to a happy and healthy childhood. Roxanna is enthusiastic about the Parenting Center’s mission to promote positive parenting behaviors and strengthen parent-child relationships.

Tori Tamu

Data & Analytics Project Manager

Tori received her B.A. in Education Studies with a focus in Human Development from Brown University and her Master’s in Education from Stanford University. She has taught middle school math in both San Francisco and New York, gaining a deep understanding of the diverse needs of children. She joins the Parenting Center from the edtech sector, where she focused on improving educational outcomes through innovative technology solutions. Tori is passionate about whole child development and addressing childrens' social, emotional, and cognitive needs, and she is excited about the Parenting Center's mission to integrate early childhood development into pediatric healthcare moments.