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Frequently Asked Questions

 


What does the Center on the Developing Child do?

The Center on the Developing Child generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the United States and throughout the world. Specifically, the Center is committed to

  • Building a unified science of health, learning, and behavior to explain the early roots of lifelong impairments;
  • Leading the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovative program and practice models that reduce preventable disparities in well-being;
  • Catalyzing the implementation of effective, science-based public policies through strategic relationships and knowledge transfer; and
  • Preparing future and current leaders to build and leverage knowledge that promotes the healthy development of children and families and brings high returns to all of society.

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How long has the Center existed, and how big is it?

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in August 2006 by Director Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D. In 2003, Dr. Shonkoff created the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, a multi-university collaboration that is now an initiative of the Center. The Center’s staff manages its activities, and its affiliated faculty members provide interdisciplinary leadership, research, teaching, and advice. Additional expertise is provided by collaborating scientists and research partners from across the U.S. and Canada, including the members of the National Scientific Council, the members of the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs, and a team of communications researchers at the FrameWorks Institute.

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What is the Center’s mission?

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. We view healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity, strong communities, and a just society, and our mission is to advance that vision by using science to enhance child well-being through innovations in policy and practice.

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Why is the mission important now?

A remarkable explosion of knowledge about the developing brain and the human genome, linked to advances in the behavioral and social sciences, offers policymakers, civic leaders, and practitioners exceptional opportunities that did not exist a decade ago. Science shows increasing promise for improving our understanding of how the foundations of successful adaptation and effective learning in the childhood years lead to better outcomes in academic achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizen-ship, lifelong health, and successful parenting of the next generation. Through building, teaching, and applying this growing knowledge base, we have an unprecedented opportunity today to shepherd a science-driven era to promote the healthy development of all children, particularly those whose life prospects are compromised by significant adversity.

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Who is the Center director?

Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., is Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. He is the Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. 
Read Jack P. Shonkoff's full bio >>

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Where is the Center located, and where does it do its work?

The administrative offices of the Center on the Developing Child are located at 50 Church Street in Cambridge, Mass., just off the main Harvard Square campus of Harvard University. Our work is done by staff members, affiliated Harvard faculty members, initiative members, and partners in a wide variety of locations across the United States. Classes and events take place throughout the school year at Harvard University, and affiliated faculty conduct research at their respective laboratory and/or field locations. There are no laboratories or programs for children at the Center’s administrative offices.

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Does the Center do original research?

In the fall of 2008, the Center provided seed funding for three years to a team of six Center-affiliated Harvard researchers to study the biology of early childhood adversity. The six researchers were part of a 10-member Center working group called the Interdisciplinary Research Seminar on Disparities (IRSD). The IRSD team’s project comprised five separate, but integrated, multidisciplinary studies that together tried to understand the biological toll of early life adversity. They examined the cellular and molecular consequences of such hardship as maternal neglect or traumatic injury in both human populations (three studies) and lab mice (two studies). Another Center initiative, the Child Mental Health Network, was formed in late 2007 to generate, integrate, communicate, and apply the science of children’s mental health to influence policy and practice, and to make scientific advances more accessible in order to inform public understanding. As part of this initiative, researchers are conducting research focused on bridging the gap between the science and practice of mental health care for children and adolescents.

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What is the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and how is it related to the Center?

The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child is a multi-university, multi-disciplinary collaboration established in 2003 to bring the science of early childhood and early brain development to bear on public decision-making. The mission of the Council is to gather, synthesize, and communicate science in support of policies that promote successful learning, adaptive behavior, and sound physical and mental health for all young children. Central to this concept is the ongoing generation, analysis, and integration of knowledge and the critical task of educating policymakers, civic leaders, and the general public about the rapidly growing science of early childhood development and its underlying neurobiology. The Council’s members are leading researchers and scholars from universities across the United States and Canada, representing the fields of neuroscience, developmental psychology, pediatrics, human development, and economics. In 2006, a similar multi-university initiative, the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs, was launched to advance public understanding of policies and practices that promote healthy development in the early childhood years. The Council’s Chair, Jack P. Shonkoff, continues to lead both the Council and the Forum under the auspices of the Center.

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What is Frontiers of Innovation and how is it related to the Center?

Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) is an initiative of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University focused on the work of a community of more than 400 researchers, practitioners, policymakers, philanthropists, and experts in systems change from across North America. Launched in May 2011, FOI is using scientific advances about the effects of early childhood adversity to catalyze innovations in policy and practice that can achieve breakthrough outcomes in the lifelong physical and mental health, learning, and behavior of vulnerable young children.

Frontiers of Innovation at a Glance >>
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What is From Neurons to Neighborhoods, and how can I get a copy?

In late 1998, the National Research Council (NRC) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development brought together 17 leading authorities on human development and neuroscience for an unprecedented review of the existing knowledge base on early childhood. In October 2000, their effort culminated in the publication of a landmark report, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, whose broad scope attracted impressive reviews and widespread accolades. Edited by Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips and published by National Academy Press, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents important findings about the effects of genetics, environment, and early stress on brain architecture, and the costs and benefits of intervention. The report is available for purchase from the National Academies Press.

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Are there any other similar reports that are more recent and/or shorter?

The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child’s signature Working Paper series, written since 2006, continues to update the science on specific topics related to early childhood development. The Council’s 2007 report, The Science of Early Childhood Development, sums up the science and policy implications, and a 2007 joint publication of the Council and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs, A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy, adds findings from four decades of early childhood program evaluation research to the developmental science and economics discussed in the Council’s work. Finally, the Center’s InBrief series provides capsule summaries of the science of early childhood development in one-page handouts and a series of three-minute videos.

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Are Center faculty available for interviews or presentations?

The Center’s affiliated faculty, as well as the Center’s director and the scholars and researchers in the Council and Forum, frequently discuss and present their work and its implications. Some are available to make presentations by request at events that are aligned with the mission of the Center, Council, and Forum. In addition, this Web site features a wide range of multimedia materials explaining the science of early childhood development; they are available free of charge for download or public use.

To arrange a media interview, please contact Millicent Lawton at 617-496-0429 or at press_developingchild@harvard.edu.

To discuss a presentation invitation, please contact Al Race at 617-495-4158 or at developingchild@harvard.edu. 

Center Director and Staff >>
Affiliated Harvard Faculty Members>>
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child Members >>
National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs Members >>

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Can the Center give me advice about my child’s health or development?
The work of the Center focuses on studying and translating broad trends in neuroscience and behavioral and developmental science for their impact on policies and programs serving young children. It would be inappropriate and unhelpful for us to speculate about specific children or circumstances. We recommend that you consult a pediatrician or other child health and development specialist.

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I’m a reporter. How can I get more information about the Center?
Please see our press information page.

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How can I find out about becoming a funder for the Center on the Developing Child?
If you are interested in becoming a Center supporter, please contact Nicole Brown, project manager for faculty development and donor relations, at 617-496-5131.

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How do I apply for full-time employment opportunities at the Center on the Developing Child?  

Any available full-time positions at the Center are posted on Harvard’s employment Web site at http://www.employment.harvard.edu. All applicants for employment with Harvard University must apply for the specific job opening through its Web site. For most positions, this involves submitting your résumé and cover letter online. For more information, please contact Harvard University Employment Services at 617-495-2772.

Any other available positions are posted on the Center's Employment Opportunities page.

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Are there any student employment opportunities available at the Center on the Developing Child?
When student employment opportunities at the Center and any affiliated institutions are available, they are posted on the Center's Employment Opportunities page.

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How do I order publications from the Center on the Developing Child?
Printed copies of Center publications may be ordered through the Center’s online catalog and delivered to your location for a modest cost, plus shipping and handling. All orders are handled by DS Graphics. Please contact eCatalogSupport@dsgraphics.com for any questions about your order.

Browse our online catalog of publications >>

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What does the science say about the use of educational television, computers, and curricula with very young children?
There are no credible scientific data to support the claim that specialized videos or particular music recordings have a positive, measurable impact on developing brain architecture in the first 2 to 3 years of life. The most important influence on brain development is what is known as the “serve and return” interaction with caring adults, as defined by back-and-forth interactions with attentive, nurturing humans. Although a varied array of experiences clearly stimulates learning in the preschool years, promotional statements about the superior brain-building impacts of expensive “educational” toys and videos for infants and toddlers have no scientific support. Similarly, didactic instruction in skill areas that are developmentally inappropriate for young children (i.e., the underlying neural circuitry necessary to master the particular skill has not developed) is an exercise in futility. Trying to teach one-year-olds to read is an example of such misguided efforts. For more information, see Working Paper 5: The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape Brain Architecture. For more research on media use with children of all ages, visit the Center on Media and Child Health at http://www.cmch.tv/.

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