Katie C. Hart

Katie (Kat) Hart, PhD, (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Florida International University. She is the Director of the Center for Children and Families and a core faculty member in the Clinical Science in Child in Adolescent Psychology Doctoral Program.

Dr. Hart completed her undergraduate training at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee before attending The State University of New York at Buffalo for her doctoral training in Clinical Psychology. She completed her clinical internship at the University of Miami's Mailman Center for Child Development where she specialized in preschool and early interventions for children ages 0-5. She joined the FIU faculty as a postdoctoral fellow in Intervention Research for Children with Disruptive Behavior Disorders in 2012 and joined the tenure-track faculty in 2014.

Dr. Hart’s research, for which she has secured over $20M while at FIU, examines ADHD and related behavior disorders and learning challenges among young children. She is the program director for the Summer Treatment Program for PreKindergarteners (STP-PreK), the Reading Explorers Program, the FIU Summer Academy Program, and The Children’s Trust Parent Club in partnership with FIU, all operated through the CCF. Her Reading Explorers Program earned Pacesetter honors from the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in 2020 and 2023 for its contributions across Miami-Dade and Broward counties in reducing summer learning loss and bolstering after school success. She has coordinated several of the CCF's school-based initiatives to promote positive behavior across schools here in Miami-Dade County. She currently serves as a member of the Superintendent's District Advisory Panel for Students with Disabilities, Early Childhood Special Education Sub-Committee, FIU's Special Education Advisory Board, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Blue Ribbon Commission for Children Health Equity, Special Needs, and Early Learning/Workforce Development Committees, chairs the Afterschool and Summer Slide Committees of the Miami-Dade Grade-Level Reading Campaign, and has served as the co-chair of Miami-Dade's Young Children with Special Needs and Disabilities Council.

Dr. Hart’s community-engaged clinical service and research programs have reached more than 15,000 families. She received a CASE award for Excellence in Community Engagement in 2016, a Faculty Senate award for Excellence in Engagement in 2018, and FIU Top Scholar honors in 2015, 2019, and 2024.

Research Areas

• School readiness in young children with or at-risk for ADHD and related disruptive behavior disorders and early learning problems
• Development, evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based early interventions across home, school, clinic and community settings
• Teacher training and implementation of evidence-based practices in classroom settings for children with ADHD

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, FL
• PhD, Clinical Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
• Clinical Internship, Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
• MA, Clinical Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
• BS, Child Development and Cognitive Studies, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN