Sr. Elena Marie Piteo O.P., PhD

Aquinas College

Sister Elena Marie is a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia, Nashville Tennessee and holds a Ph.D in Psychology from the University of Adelaide, Australia. Prior to entering the Dominican Sisters in 2011, she worked on research projects specifically examining the effects of diet and sleep on cognitive, language, social, and emotional development in children and adolescents as well as the impacts on mental health. Since entering the religious community, Sister has continued her studies in Education by earning an MAT at Aquinas College in Nashville Tennessee and taught in high schools in the United States. In the years following, she taught Applied Psychology and Research Methods courses at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney Australia and has continued research in the area of child and adolescent mental health, social and emotional development and Trauma Informed Practices. Sister currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Aquinas College, Nashville Tennessee and is the Director of the Quality Enhancement Plan, which focuses on preparing educators to foster social and emotional learning as a trauma informed practice using a Catholic Christian model.