Sarah Vaala is a research associate at Vanderbilt University, where she is currently focused on developing mobile and internet tools to boost problem-solving skills among teens living with chronic illness. She completed her Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. As a graduate student Sarah worked on an RTL-funded research team which examined young children’s television-viewing and language learning. She is interested in the diverse educational and health implications of media in the lives of children and adolescents, as well as the ways caregivers perceive and make decisions about their children’s media use.