Amelia Seraphia Derr, PhD MSW FT — Faculty ; Associate Professor ; Department of Social Work , College of Arts & Sciences ; Areas of Expertise: Caregiving & Grief | Systems of Care | Burnout Prevention .

Amelia Seraphia Derr, PhD, MSW, FT, is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Seattle University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Death & Society at the University of Bath. Her scholarship examines grief, caregiving, resilience, and the ways people and communities navigate systems of care under conditions of uncertainty. Her current research focuses on grief in the context of serious, chronic, and life-limiting pediatric illness, particularly experiences of loss that unfold over long periods of time and remain poorly recognized within conventional grief frameworks. Her recent work introduces the concept of twilight grief, a prolonged form of pre-death grief characterized by ongoing caregiving, uncertainty, and the simultaneous orientation toward living and the possibility of loss. This work grows from the intersection of scholarship, social work practice, and her lived experience. Across her career, her scholarship has also examined immigrant and refugee access to health and social services and the conditions that support resilience and sustainability among social workers and other helping professionals.