Deborah Padgett Coehlo, Ph.D., completed her undergraduate degree in nursing at Chico State University. She then completed her masters in nursing with a specialty in parent-child nursing and a pediatric nurse practitioner certification from the University of Washington. She then spent 10 years working at the Child Development Center at the University of Washington in the Genetics Clinic and Multidisciplinary Clinic. This path led to faculty positions at Southern Oregon State University and Oregon Health Sciences University in Nursing. She completed her doctorate degree in Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University. She has continued to teach at the undergraduate and graduate level in human development and family sciences, counseling, and psychology at Oregon State University. Research interests have included social networking, transition to out of home care for families, and child development. She also maintains clinical practice as a developmental and behavioral specialist at Juniper Pediatrics (dba) in Bend, Oregon, including the diagnosis and care of children with attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and other childhood mental health diagnoses. Publications have been in families choosing residential care, families in transition, family health nursing, and children with special health care needs.