Interview conducted by graduate student, Sofia Suxo-Sanchez, a PhD student in the Human Development and Family Science program.
RT: I'm Russ Toomey, a professor in HDFS and a university distinguished scholar. My research looks at risk and resilience among youth who identify at the margins, including youth who are sexual or gender minorities, as well as Latine, Latinx youth.
Q: What made you interested in that area of research?
RT: As an undergraduate at Ohio University working in the LGBTQ Student Resource Center, I noticed many peers struggling with mental health. While taking a Death and Dying course, I wrote a research paper on suicide ideology and behaviors among LGBTQ populations at the time, there was only one peer-reviewed paper on youth, written by my future graduate mentor, Steven Russell. I entered a master’s program planning to work in LGBTQ community spaces but fell in love with research, met Steven at NCFR, and realized I needed a PhD to pursue it.
Q: Where did you earn your master’s degree and PhD?
RT: I completed my master’s degree at Kent State University in Ohio and my PhD at the University of Arizona.
Q: What implications does your research have in people’s daily lives?
RT:I have never wanted my research to live only in academic journals; it’s important to translate it for the general public and affected communities. My work has been used in policy hearings and best practices across the country and globally, giving parents strategies to support their children when they come out. It also informs school policies, supports teachers, and helps create environments where youth can thrive regardless of identity.
Q: What is one of the biggest challenges facing your research today?
RT:Federal policies and practices have directly affected our work, including a six-month project pause. Recruitment is also challenging because Latinx, Latine, queer, and trans youth and their families may not want their names affiliated with federally funded research due to the larger socio-political climate.
Q: How do you remain optimistic during difficult times?
RT:I remind myself of my vision: to reduce the disparity in suicide behavior to zero between LGBTQ youth and their peers. I want youth to live, grow up, and thrive. I also draw hope from my collaborators. Science takes a team, and we lift each other up and create space for one another to shine.
Q: What has been your favorite part of being a researcher, PhD, and professor?
RT:Mentoring students and watching them thrive. I often think about five graduate students I mentored during the pandemic; now four are assistant professors and one works outside academia. It feels like we formed a family.
Q: What is your favorite part of teaching and conducting research?
RT: In research, it’s seeing my work used by communities to better their existence. In teaching, it’s the “light bulb” moment, whether undergraduates realizing concepts in adolescent development or graduate students gaining the ability to conduct their own analyses after learning statistics.
Q: What upcoming projects are you looking forward to?
RT:With our NIH-funded grant, we are recruiting for focus groups and developing measurements before collecting full family data from parents and youth within the same family. This work has major implications for family therapy and youth-focused pediatric therapy practice.
Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to be a professor and researcher?
RT:Write a vision and mission statement so you can return to it during difficult times and celebrate successes. Know what sparks your joy in research, ground yourself in that passion, and find balance; whatever gives you that balance outside of work is critical for longevity in a career.