Our History
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University was established in 2006 by Founding Director Jack P. Shonkoff, MD, with a mission to generate, translate, and apply scientific knowledge that would close the gap between what we know and what we do to improve the lives of children facing adversity.
Dr. Shonkoff’s involvement with two prior initiatives laid the foundation for our distinctive mission. The first group, the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, produced From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development—a landmark report in the early childhood field. The second group, the John D. and Cathrine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development, modeled the transformative impact of working at the intersection of neuroscience and developmental psychology.
The Center continues to focus on making the interdisciplinary science of early childhood development accessible and actionable, working with partners and drawing on a wide range of expertise and resources in service of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity.
In 2003, members of the two groups formed the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. The Council’s purpose was to use the newly synthesized science of early childhood development to inform effective, science-based policy and public decision-making and served as the initial scientific anchor for the Center.
Several years later, the Center launched a more applied phase of work through our Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) initiative (2011-2023). Through FOI, we engaged with a diverse group of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and philanthropists eager to use science as a catalyst for new ways of thinking and working in the pursuit of better outcomes for children facing adversity.
In 2023, under the leadership of Chief Science Officer Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, the Center launched the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment, a multidisciplinary, cross-organizational collaboration committed to improving our understanding of how influences from the broader environment affect early childhood development.
In 2024, the Center began the search for a new Faculty Director, following Dr. Shonkoff stepping down from that role to pursue an independent portfolio of work focused on aligning advances in science and new measurement capacity with a diversity of lived experiences to increase the effectiveness of community-based early childhood policies and programs.
Today, the Center continues to focus on making the interdisciplinary science of early childhood development accessible and actionable, working with partners and drawing on a wide range of expertise and resources in service of better, more equitable outcomes for young children facing adversity.
Our Approach
Our approach is grounded in four core strategies aimed at making science accessible and actionable for policymakers, advocates, community leaders, and others whose work and decision-making are critical for supporting healthy development during pregnancy and the earliest years.