HCDC In The News

Browse media coverage of the center from major U.S. and international media outlets, explore our scientific materials, and stay up to date with our activities.

Contact Information

press_developingchild@harvard.edu

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

The enormous cost of toxic stress: Repairing damage to refugee and separated children

July 9, 2018

Publication: The Brookings Institution
Featured Expert: Dr. Jack Shonkoff

“When traumatic experiences are imposed on young children, the impact on their bodies and brains can last a lifetime, even if those children cannot consciously remember the events that terrified them,” writes Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, who submitted this statement on behalf of Center Director Dr. Jack Shonkoff and others.

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2017

The Diversity of Play

August 7, 2017

Publication: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Featured Expert: Lynneth Solis

Former Richmond Fellow Lynneth Solis explores the impact play has on the cognitive development of children in Colombia.

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The Decade of the Brain

May 17, 2017

Publication: The Atlantic

A new series of videos from The Atlantic explores early childhood development by looking at the emergence of early childhood development research and programs.

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First Impressions: A virtual experience of the first year of life

April 11, 2017

Publication: The Guardian
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

Using virtual reality (VR) technology, the Guardian has created “First Impressions,” which enables viewers to explore how a baby sees the world during the first six months of life. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Charles Nelson guides viewers through the 360-degree VR experience, explaining the impact of extreme adversity such as neglect […]

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Fewer homeless veterans. More homeless children in state.

January 12, 2017

Publication: Bridge Magazine
Featured Expert: Megan R. Gunnar

Although a 2006 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness in Michigan has had success in reducing the number of homeless veterans and chronically homeless individuals, the news is not as good for children and families–and may have actually grown worse. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Megan Gunnar explains the impact that the ongoing […]

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2016

Expensive Problems: Researchers Say ‘High Cost’ Adults Can Be Predicted At Age 3

December 12, 2016

Publication: WBUR's CommonHealth Blog
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This blog post and companion radio show explore a new study that suggests that brain health before age 3 may predict a person’s cost to society around age 40. These costs included health expenses, such as hospital stays and drug prescriptions, as well as welfare benefits, insurance claims, and criminal court and prison costs. Center […]

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Special Report "Our Children: Searching for Solutions"

November 20, 2016

Publication: Detroit Free Press
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

The Detroit Free Press presents a series of stories about growing up in the Motor City and the toll that poverty and violence take on children. The stories examine programs both around the country and in Detroit that might offer solutions to help combat toxic stress. The Center’s materials are quoted throughout, as is a […]

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Learning Through Play: Education does not stop when recess begins

September 13, 2016

Publication: The Atlantic
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

School recess is making something of a comeback, due in part to stronger science backing the importance of play to children’s learning and development. Center Director Jack Shonkoff discusses the cognitive, physical, mental, and social-emotional benefits of play and how “recess” is inaptly named because it’s an important component of school, not a distraction from […]

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How Poverty Affects the Brain

August 25, 2016

Publication: Newsweek
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Growing research shows that poverty and the conditions that often accompany it—violence, excessive noise, chaos at home, pollution, malnutrition, abuse and parents without jobs—can affect the interactions, formation, and pruning of connections in the young brain. Center Director Jack Shonkoff was interviewed for this story and shared insight on how we can use this new […]

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Pediatricians take on new role: Fighting the bigotry and violence that hurts kids

July 18, 2016

Publication: STAT
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This story was in response to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recent recommendations for pediatricians to confront violence in children’s lives. The AAP is working to identify new approaches to the problem, including education, advocacy, and changes in clinical practice. Center Director Jack Shonkoff was interviewed for the story and shared insight on how toxic […]

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Can poverty be passed down? A nonprofit tries to break the cycle

July 12, 2016

Publication: The Boston Globe
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

EMPath’s Intergenerational Mobility Project, a member of the Frontiers of Innovation community, coaches families to equip parents with the skills to navigate their way out of poverty and to help them show their children the way out, too. The story highlights a new report from EMPath about the project and quotes Center Director Jack Shonkoff, […]

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The Limits of ‘Grit’

June 21, 2016

Publication: The New Yorker
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Examining Angela Duckworth’s book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” and the resulting popular interest in grit as a key to success, this piece calls out the significant limitations of this focus: that grit may be out of reach for some kids who have grown up in poverty or other stressful conditions without the […]

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Family Experience with Toxic Stress

June 21, 2016

Publication: Be Well ideastream
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

As part of the Healthy People, Healthy Places – Healthy Beginnings series, Be Well explores the topic of toxic stress and its impact on one Ohio family. Center affiliated faculty member and National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Charles Nelson is interviewed for the story to help explain what toxic stress is and […]

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The Complex Lives of Babies

June 20, 2016

Publication: The Atlantic
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

Highlighting ideas and themes from the recently released documentary, “The Beginning of Life,” this article emphasizes the impact that environment and relationships in the first few years of a child’s life have on physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. The story includes quotes from Center Director Jack Shonkoff and affiliated faculty member and National Scientific […]

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Stress Fractures: A developing brain exposed to a stressful environment can cause a lifetime of pain

June 15, 2016

Publication: Real Change
Featured Expert: Megan R. Gunnar

This story on toxic stress highlights several new programs aimed at preventing and reducing toxic stress for children, including the Best Start for Kids program in King County, Washington State, which is focusing its support on pregnant mothers, educating new families, and caring for children between infancy and five years of age. National Scientific Council […]

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Bringing Brain Science to Early Childhood

May 4, 2016

Publication: The Atlantic
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In this story that highlights the publication of the Center’s newest report, Center Director Jack Shonkoff explains the call for a science-based R&D platform in the early childhood field and the Center’s vision for making breakthrough impacts for children and families, especially those facing adversity.

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The brain science behind Britain’s new parenting classes

January 15, 2016

Publication: The Washington Post
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Examining British Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent announcement about the UK’s new policy on parenting classes, the Washington Post spoke with Center Director Jack Shonkoff about the neuroscience cited in the Prime Minister’s speech and how meeting parents’ needs results in meeting children’s needs.

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2015

Grandmother, child rise from trauma with help from Childhaven

December 31, 2015

Publication: The Seattle Times

This story focuses on the work of Childhaven, a therapeutic child care nonprofit in Washington State that is also a member of the Frontiers of Innovation community through the Washington Cluster. Having worked directly with the organization, Director of Innovation Strategies Becky Jacques shares her thoughts about Childhaven’s ongoing innovation and learning.

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#OpportunityRedefined: Interview with Jack P. Shonkoff, Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

October 26, 2015

Publication: Amplify
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In this installment of New Profit’s #OpportunityRedefined series, Center Director Jack Shonkoff talks about what’s needed to achieve breakthrough social change—new strategies that produce bigger impacts and a better understanding of why interventions work – or don’t work – for whom and in what contexts.

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Why Netflix’s Parental Leave Policy is Good For Babies

August 5, 2015

Publication: TIME
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Video-streaming company Netflix announced this week that it will offer its employees a year of maternity and paternity leave during the first year after their child’s birth or adoption. Center Director Jack Shonkoff talks with TIME about what this may mean for children, particularly the effects of early child-parent bonds on cognitive, emotional, and social […]

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Reinforcing best practices for parents

August 3, 2015

Publication: The Register-Guard

Renee Van Norman, Ph.D., director of the Pearl Buck Preschool in Oregon, shares the preschool’s experience with the Filming Interactions to Nurture (FIND) video coaching program for parents, which focuses on the concept of “serve and return,” developed by the Center. Norman explains the program’s practical approach and how it uniquely emphasizes parents’ strengths and […]

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The Diaper Dilemma

July 21, 2015

Publication: The Atlantic

Not being able to afford a basic baby necessity like diapers can hurt mothers’ mental health and their ability to parent. This story highlights the work of the New Haven MOMS Partnership, a support network for new mothers and their children and a Frontiers of Innovation member, to address this problem.

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Can science save abused, neglected kids – and money, too?

June 30, 2015

Publication: Crosscut

Washington state is increasingly using current science to guide its policies and services for children and families. This story features the Center’s Frontiers of Innovation initiative, which is led in Washington by the Department of Early Learning and combines the science of brain development with advances in the social and behavioral sciences to design and […]

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What Poverty Does to the Young Brain

June 4, 2015

Publication: The New Yorker
Featured Expert: Pat Levitt

Poverty can create conditions of toxic stress, which weakens the architecture of the developing brain. This piece features the work of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and quotes its science director, Pat Levitt.

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The Brain and Biology of Parenting

May 27, 2015

Publication: Charlie Rose Brain Series
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

Charlie Rose hosts a round-table discussion about the brain and the biology of parenting. The distinguished panel of researchers includes Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III, who explains how serve and return interaction between caregivers and children plays a fundamental role in building the brain.

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A Single Denver Mom Learns to Manage Toxic Stress and Tighten Family Bonds

May 22, 2015

Publication: Colorado Public Radio

This story profiles a Denver, Colorado-based implementation of the FIND project, which uses a video coaching technique to strengthen serve and return interactions between parents and children. FIND was developed by researchers at the University of Oregon and the Oregon Social Learning Center who are members of the Frontiers of Innovation network.

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Take the ACE Quiz – And Learn What It Does and Doesn’t Mean

March 2, 2015

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

The Adverse Childhood Experiences, or “ACEs,” quiz asks a series of 10 questions (see below) about common traumatic experiences that occur in early life. Since higher numbers of ACEs often correlate to challenges later in life, including higher risk of certain health problems, the quiz is intended as an indicator of how likely a person […]

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Can Family Secrets Make You Sick?

March 2, 2015

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Megan R. Gunnar

Childhood abuse and neglect can have lasting effects on adult health and executive function. This article from NPR surveys decades of work to determine “what exactly adverse childhood experiences do to the body,” and quotes National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Megan R. Gunnar.

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Toxic stress in babies and children causes lifelong problems

January 20, 2015

Publication: Minnesota Public Radio
Featured Expert: Megan R. Gunnar

As part of its “Healthy States” initiative, Minnesota Public Radio presents this story on the science of toxic stress and the role early brain development plays in supporting lifelong health. The program begins with a keynote by National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Megan Gunnar, who emphasizes “the importance of healthy child development […]

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Starting Early

January 20, 2015

Publication: The Connecticut Mirror
Featured Expert: Megan R. Gunnar

This four-part series from journalist Arielle Levin Becker takes an in-depth look at the effects of severe childhood adversity on mental and physical health. Together, the articles detail how toxic stress impacts the body, the protective effects of a secure relationship with a caregiver, and ways to identify and prevent problems that threaten child well-being. […]

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The First Year

January 1, 2015

Publication: National Geographic
Featured Expert: Nathan A. Fox

This article discusses scientific research focused on how supportive relationships with adults shape early brain development. One highlighted study, the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), has examined how early childhood neglect impacts brain development as well as how appropriate nurturing can buffer the effects of early deprivation. BEIP was launched by Center-affiliated faculty member Charles […]

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2014

Life After Stress: The Biology Of Trauma And Resilience

November 13, 2014

Publication: New England Public Radio
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

In this story, reporter Karen Brown profiles ongoing research efforts to understand how trauma affects lifelong mental and physical health. Brown speaks with Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III, who explains how brain development depends on the interaction between genes and experience, noting that “the brain doesn’t know how to wire itself.”

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Common Core Reading: The Struggle Over Struggle

November 13, 2014

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Catherine Snow

As part of its series on reading in the Common Core era, NPR explores how complex reading material impacts the success with which children learn to read. The piece quotes Center-affiliated faculty member Catherine Snow, an expert on language and literacy development in children.

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Under the Hood of the Adolescent Brain

October 17, 2014

Publication: Harvard Medical School News
Featured Expert: Ronald C. Kessler

Adolescence is a crucial period in the development of lifelong mental health, says Center-affiliated faculty member Ronald Kessler. In his keynote at the annual Harvard Catalyst symposium on brain development in the second decade of life, Kessler discussed how the teenage years can begin a “cascade of triggers and problems” that lasts into adulthood. Kessler […]

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The Way to Beat Poverty

September 14, 2014

Publication: The New York Times
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In this column, authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn emphasize the importance of early intervention in breaking the cycle of poverty. Citing the work of Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff, they explain how adverse experiences associated with poverty can compromise brain development and undermine the foundations for healthy adult life. Such toxic stress can fuel […]

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An Experiment in Zero Parenting

August 15, 2014

Publication: Science
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

This article by Eliot Marshall highlights the work of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, which studies how early childhood neglect affects brain development. The project was launched by Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III and National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Nathan Fox. That work, in Romanian orphanages, has shown that the […]

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How Childhood Neglect Harms the Brain

June 26, 2014

Publication: WBUR Radio
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

As part of its neuroscience-focused series “Brain Matters,” public radio station WBUR explores the science behind the effects of abuse and neglect on the developing brain. The story features interviews with Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III and Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff. Nelson speaks about his work on how profound early deprivation impairs […]

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Inequality Begins at Birth

June 26, 2014

Publication: The New York Review of Books – NYR Blog

This post by Jeff Madrick discusses how early childhood adversities, including poverty, can create a toxic stress response in the body that can compromise the architecture of the developing brain. Interventions and programs that address the stressors of poverty are vital to improving health and educational outcomes for many children. Madrick notes, “What is concerning, […]

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How Childhood Neglect and Abuse Impacts the Brain

June 26, 2014

Publication: WBUR Radio
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Neglect, abuse, and other forms of maltreatment can produce lifelong changes in brain architecture. However, supportive, responsive relationships with adults can help prevent or mitigate such damaging effects. In this story, WBUR’s “Radio Boston” speaks with Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff about how serve and return interactions promote healthy brain development, and why it’s time […]

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How Supportive Parenting Protects the Brain

June 26, 2014

Publication: The Atlantic
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article discusses the effects of toxic stress on lifelong health and explains how supportive, responsive caregiving can help improve outcomes for children living in poverty or other adverse circumstances. The article quotes Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff.

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Hospital Program Coaches Parents To Help Alleviate ‘Toxic Stress’ in Babies and Toddlers

June 23, 2014

Publication: KPCC Radio
Featured Expert: Pat Levitt

At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, an early childhood mental health program is working with parents to help them understand and address toxic stress in their children. This article quotes Center on the Developing Child Senior Fellow Pat Levitt on how serve and return interactions build children’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Also included are excerpts […]

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A Call for Two-Generation Strategies to Achieve ‘Breakthrough’ Impacts

June 19, 2014

Publication: Prevention Action
Featured Expert: Philip A. Fisher

Prevention Action, an online outlet that covers international efforts to improve child outcomes, reports on a recent publication by Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff and Center Senior Fellow Philip A. Fisher. Calling for the development of new early childhood intervention strategies based on science-driven innovation, Shonkoff and Fisher assert that interventions that strengthen the capabilities of […]

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Nurtury Learning Lab Designed to Foster Opportunity

June 16, 2014

Publication: The Boston Globe

The Nurtury Learning Lab in Boston is a collaboration between the Boston Housing Authority and Nurtury, a longstanding early care and education agency. This article quotes Nurtury CEO Wayne Ysaguirre, who is a member of the Center’s Frontiers of Innovation initiative. By working with organizations including the Center on the Developing Child, the Learning Lab […]

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Can Brain Science Help Lift People Out Of Poverty?

June 6, 2014

Publication: WBUR's CommonHealth blog
Featured Expert: Elisabeth Babcock

Under the leadership of Elisabeth (Beth) Babcock, a member of the Center’s Frontiers of Innovation initiative, the Boston-based nonprofit EMPath (formerly Crittenton Women’s Union) is using brain science to help families break the cycle of poverty. Research indicates that the adverse experiences associated with poverty can impair vital executive function skills. CWU is applying the science […]

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Teaching Through Trauma

June 2, 2014

Publication: KPCC Radio

In this two-part series, public radio station KPCC reports on Los Angeles public schools that are working to address the impact of toxic stress on learning. Part one features ongoing efforts at the Camino Nuevo charter school to address poverty’s effects on the brain using targeted interventions that support both parents and children. Part two […]

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Boys Report PTSD When Moved Out Of Poverty

March 12, 2014

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Ronald C. Kessler

This National Public Radio story features Center-affiliated faculty member Ronald Kessler, the lead author of a Journal of the American Medical Association study that analyzed a federal program to move families from public housing into more affluent areas. Kessler explains that while girls thrived under the program, boys developed conduct and mental health problems, possibly […]

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Soldiers Enter Military With Higher Rates of Mental Illness

March 4, 2014

Publication: WBUR Radio
Featured Expert: Ronald C. Kessler

Soldiers entering the U.S. Army have higher rates of mental illness than the general public, according to a study authored by Center-affiliated faculty member Ronald Kessler and other researchers. Because soldiers may develop additional conditions during their service, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, Kessler says they are at increased risk for suicide. Kessler is the […]

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Suicidal Tendencies Are Evident Before Deployment, Study Finds

March 4, 2014

Publication: The New York Times
Featured Expert: Matthew K. Nock

A study by academic, government, and military researchers, including Center-affiliated faculty member Matthew K. Nock, addresses the troubling suicide rate among members of the U.S. Army. The findings reveal that enlisted men and women exhibit more impulsive anger than their civilian counterparts, increasing the likelihood that soldiers will act on suicidal urges. Nock is a […]

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Orphans’ Lonely Beginnings Reveal How Parents Shape a Child’s Brain

February 24, 2014

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

This National Public Radio story explores the effects of neglect on the developing brains of children living in Romanian orphanages. It highlights the research of Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III, whose studies of Romanian orphans examine how brain wiring goes awry when children are deprived of responsive caregiving.

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Bringing Home the Plight of Abandoned Children

February 17, 2014

Publication: The Boston Globe
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

Children who don’t receive supportive early care lag behind their peers socially, physically, and intellectually, says Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III. In this Q&A interview with Karen Weintraub, Nelson discusses the new book he has co-authored about children living in Romanian orphanages, Romania’s Abandoned Children: Deprivation, Brain Development, and the Struggle for Recovery […]

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The New Science Behind Early Education

January 31, 2014

Publication: WGBH Radio
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In this interview, Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff speaks with Innovation Hub’s Kara Miller about why the early stages of development matter for children’s future health and educational success. Calling for innovations in policy and practice to help close the learning (and health) gap, Shonkoff highlights the need to build the capabilities of children’s adult […]

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Want Perfect Pitch? You Might Be Able To Pop A Pill For That

January 4, 2014

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Takao Hensch

Research by Center-affiliated faculty member Takao Hensch suggests that a drug can restore brain plasticity to a juvenile state, allowing adults to learn perfect pitch. NPR’s Linda Wertheimer asks Hensch, who serves on the Center’s steering committee, about the implications of reopening this particular “critical period” of development. Hensch is a professor of molecular and […]

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2013

Protecting Children From Toxic Stress

October 30, 2013

Publication: The New York Times
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In the Fixes column on the Times web site, David Bornstein explores toxic stress, its implications for lifelong heath, and what can be done to prevent it, including by supporting parents in how to respond appropriately to their children’s cues and needs. The article quotes Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff.

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The Road to Resilience

October 9, 2013

Publication: The Huffington Post
Featured Expert: Theresa Betancourt

Huffington Post blogger Amy Spies highlights the work of Center-affiliated faculty member Theresa Betancourt, who is an associate professor of child health and human rights at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Betancourt also directs the research program on children and global adversity at the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at HSPH.

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Following His Passion

October 1, 2013

Publication: Harvard Gazette

This article, from Harvard University’s daily e-newsletter, cites work in Brazil on early childhood development being done by the Center in collaboration with several other institutions: Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo, and Insper. The project, Núcleo Ciência […]

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The Suicide Detective

June 26, 2013

Publication: The New York Times Magazine
Featured Expert: Matthew K. Nock

Research by Center-affiliated faculty member Matthew K. Nock into understanding why people commit or attempt suicide is the subject of this article in the The New York Times Magazine. Nock is a psychology professor in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and director of the Laboratory for Clinical and Developmental Research in the Department […]

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Harvard EdCast: The Future of Early Childhood Ed

June 5, 2013

Publication: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff discusses President Obama’s emphasis on early childhood education in his February 2013 State of the Union Address in the June 5 EdCast, a weekly podcast interview conducted by Matthew Weber at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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2012

Reclaiming Childhood

November 1, 2012

Publication: Harvard Magazine
Featured Expert: Theresa Betancourt

Harvard Magazine profiles Center affiliated faculty member Theresa Betancourt and her research on the effectiveness of interventions that aim to help children around the world.

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‘Your Honor, My Genes Made Me Do It’

October 21, 2012

Publication: The Wall Street Journal
Featured Expert: Jordan W. Smoller

This opinion piece, co-authored by Center-affiliated faculty member Jordan Smoller, argues that, recent advances in brain science notwithstanding, “until we can make well-founded, scientifically sound and legally relevant links between genes, brains, and behaviors, judges, juries and the public should be wary of neuroscience in the courtroom.” Smoller is the director of psychiatric genetics and […]

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Cuddle Your Kid!

October 20, 2012

Publication: The New York Times
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof cites brain architecture, toxic stress, and the work of Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff in highlighting why early childhood education and parenting programs may be “the most cost-effective way” to try to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

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Can Omar Khadr Get Past the Trauma?

October 3, 2012

Publication: The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Featured Expert: Theresa Betancourt

This article covers the release in Canada of Omar Khadr, the former child soldier who had been held in prison in Guantánamo Bay, and quotes Center-affiliated faculty member Theresa Betancourt. Betancourt is an associate professor of child health and human rights at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and director of the research program on […]

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Targeting Childhood Obesity Early

September 18, 2012

Publication: Harvard Gazette
Featured Expert: Matthew Gillman

This article features the work of Center-affiliated faculty member Matthew Gillman, who is studying the health of expectant mothers and their children. Gillman is the director of the Obesity Prevention Program in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is a professor of population medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

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Toxic Stress – Why Abuse and Trauma Linger Into Adulthood

July 26, 2012

Publication: New England Public Radio
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III is featured in this story about the impact of early life adversity on adult health outcomes. Nelson is the Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Research at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

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Neurodevelopment: Unlocking the Brain

July 4, 2012

Publication: Nature
Featured Expert: Takao Hensch

This article features the work of Center-affiliated faculty member Takao Hensch, whose research examines the biology underlying critical periods and its potential for treating brain disorders. Hensch is a professor of molecular and cellular biology in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a professor of neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital.

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How Might Autistic Children Be Similar? In Their Brainwaves

June 26, 2012

Publication: WBUR's CommonHealth Blog
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

This story features Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III and his work at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) looking at the brain waves of autistic children. Nelson is the Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Research at BCH and a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

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Study Tracks Growing Understanding of UDL

June 20, 2012

Publication: Education Week
Featured Expert: Todd Grindal

This article features 2011-12 Richmond Fellow Todd Grindal discussing universal design for learning (UDL), an educational framework aimed at adapting instruction for individual learning differences. Grindal is a research associate for the Center’s meta-analytic database and a fifth year doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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Parents’ Depression Linked to Problems in Children

May 7, 2012

Publication: New York Times Well Blog
Featured Expert: William Beardslee

The link between parents’ depression and negative consequences for children is the focus of this article from The New York Times Well blog. Featured in the article is Center-affiliated faculty member William Beardslee, who is director of the Preventive Intervention Project at Judge Baker Children’s Center and is the Gardner/Monks Professor of Child Psychiatry at […]

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Deporting Parents Hurts Kids

April 20, 2012

Publication: The New York Times

Deporting undocumented parents can create lasting harm for their American citizen children, according to a recent op-ed co-authored by Center-affiliated faculty member and Academic Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Hirokazu Yoshikawa. The article warns that children of deportation have a greater likelihood of facing long-term negative impacts, including economic turmoil, psychic scarring, […]

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Protecting the Heart with Optimism

April 17, 2012

Publication: Harvard Gazette
Featured Expert: Laura Kubzansky

Center-affiliated faculty member Laura Kubzansky is featured in this Harvard Science article, which highlights new research on the connection between cardiovascular disease and psychological well-being. Kubzansky is an associate professor of society, human development, and health at Harvard School of Public Health.

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Predicting Suicide

April 16, 2012

Publication: Proto
Featured Expert: Matthew K. Nock

This interview with Center-affiliated faculty member Matthew K. Nock appears in the Spring issue of Proto magazine, which is a publication of Massachusetts General Hospital. Nock, a professor of psychology in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, discusses his research on suicide risk.

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Targeting Toxic Stress in Children

February 27, 2012

Publication: The Boston Globe
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This Q&A interview with Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff focuses on the issue of toxic stress. Toxic stress refers to what occurs when the body’s stress response system is activated for long periods of time—by such triggers as recurrent abuse, chronic neglect or prolonged exposure to violence—without being able to calm down and return to […]

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Searching for Answers to Causes of Childhood Depression

February 3, 2012

Publication: Harvard School of Public Health
Featured Expert: Jordan W. Smoller

In this news feature from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Marge Dwyer describes a recent review of studies led by Erin Dunn, who is a former Julius B. Richmond Fellow at the Center on the Developing Child and a current postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dunn’s review sought to shed light […]

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Harvard EdCast: Toxic Stress in Early Childhood

January 27, 2012

Publication: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff discusses the impact of early childhood toxic stress on adult health in the January 23 EdCast, a weekly podcast interview conducted by Matthew Weber at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In the 14-minute interview, Shonkoff addresses the recent American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on toxic stress, emphasizing the […]

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A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug

January 7, 2012

Publication: The New York Times

Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof brings the impact of toxic stress to the forefront in this column for The New York Times. Addressing the American Academy of Pediatrics’ January 2012 policy statement, which features Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff as co-author, Kristof posits that the paper’s recommendations could have “revolutionary implications” for poverty, education, and health […]

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2011

Neurons in Youth

November 30, 2011

Publication: Harvard Gazette
Featured Expert: Takao Hensch

Center-affiliated faculty member Takao Hensch, a professor of neurology at Children’s Hospital Boston, is leading a group of Harvard researchers in an effort to map how brain wiring occurs early in life and what happens when it goes awry. Research by Hensch, who is also a professor of molecular and cellular biology, looks into how […]

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A Child’s Memory in Military Time

October 19, 2011

Publication: Harvard Gazette
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

This article features Center-affiliated faculty members Charles A. Nelson III and Margaret Sheridan, who spoke at a seminar aimed at military veterans and members of the armed services, the first in a series by the Harvard College Veterans Engagement Initiative. Nelson and Sheridan, who are both on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, presented relevant […]

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Life After Death: Helping Former Child Soldiers Become Whole Again

October 1, 2011

Publication: Harvard Public Health Review
Featured Expert: Theresa Betancourt

This article by Karen Feldscher highlights Center-affiliated faculty member Theresa Betancourt, who is working to adapt and test group interventions for former child soldiers in Sierra Leone. As director of the research program on children and global adversity at Harvard School of Public Health, Betancourt looks closely at the harrowing experiences of this young population […]

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Risks Seen for Children of Illegal Immigrants

September 20, 2011

Publication: The New York Times

The New York Times covered a paper co-authored by Hirokazu Yoshikawa, a Center-affiliated faculty member and academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, about the developmental consequences for children of illegal immigrants. The paper, entitled “Growing Up in the Shadows: The Developmental Implications of Unauthorized Status,” appears in the Fall 2011 issue of the […]

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Harvard EdCast: Protecting Children’s Brains

August 24, 2011

Publication: Harvard Graduate School of Education
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff describes the science behind early childhood development in the August 24 “EdCast,” a weekly podcast produced by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In the 15-minute interview with Matt Weber, Shonkoff makes the case for scientists, practitioners, and policymakers to work together to design and test creative new interventions that […]

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Special Edition of the Science Journal Supports the Need for Greater Attention to Preschool

August 19, 2011

Publication: Correio Braziliense
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article from Correio Braziliense, a newspaper published in Brazil, features Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff in a special edition on early childhood education. The article states that quality education in the earliest years of life is crucial to future success. Shonkoff emphasizes the need for early education to incorporate both cognitive-linguistic enrichment and innovative […]

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Protecting Children From Adversity Key to Healthy Development

August 16, 2011

Publication: Harvard School of Public Health
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This news feature written by Karen Feldscher highlights an August 9 Hot Topics lecture by Jack P. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child. In his talk, “Leveraging Science to Shape the Future of Early Childhood Policy,” Shonkoff spoke of the need for researchers and policymakers to work collaboratively to develop fresh ideas […]

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Child’s Telomeres May Tell of Early-Life Adversity

July 1, 2011

Publication: Psychiatric News
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

This article written by by Leslie Sinclair discusses the research of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a randomized controlled trial of institutionalized care and deprivation in childhood. The team of researchers, which includes Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III, and National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Nathan A. Fox, has been […]

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Helping Children to Fly

June 14, 2011

Publication: Prevention Action

This article from Prevention Action, an online news publication focusing on innovation and effectiveness among child development programs, provides a summary of the Center’s 11th working paper, “Building the Brain’s ‘Air Traffic Control’ System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function.” As quoted from Working Paper 11, a joint publication of the National […]

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The Child from Mozambique

June 8, 2011

Publication: Huffington Post
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In this entry from the Huffington Post’s World blog, Marcelo Giugale, the World Bank’s Director of Economic Policy and Poverty Reduction Programs for Africa, illustrates the profound negative impact of early poverty on future life outcomes. Giugale explains that brain plasticity peaks during the first year of life and that delays or interruptions in this […]

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Looking for Early Signs of Autism in Brain Waves

June 2, 2011

Publication: NPR
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

This article by Jon Hamilton from National Public Radio features the autism research of Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III, a member of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Nelson’s work at Children’s Hospital Boston utilizes electroencephalography, a technology that monitors electrical activity in the brain, to help detect early signs of […]

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Tying Race and Stress to Health

May 16, 2011

Publication: The Boston Globe
Featured Expert: David R. Williams

This Q&A interview by Karen Weintraub was conducted with Center-affiliated faculty member David R. Williams, the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and a professor of African and African-American Studies in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Williams discusses his most recently published study, co-authored by […]

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Study: Immigrant Hispanics Less Stressed, Healthier

May 5, 2011

Publication: CNN
Featured Expert: David R. Williams

A recently published study on racial disparities in health is the focus of this CNN Health blog entry. The study, co-authored by Center faculty affiliate David R. Williams, Center postdoctoral fellow Natalie Slopen, and Michelle Sternthal, shows that stress levels among American-born Hispanics and African-Americans are significantly higher than for foreign-born Hispanics and whites. According […]

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Investing in Early Childhood Education is to Invest in Human Capital

April 28, 2011

Publication: Veja
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article from Veja, a weekly magazine in Brazil, features a Q&A interview by Nathalia Goulart with Jack P. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child. Shonkoff states that investing in high-quality early childhood care and education is the best investment society can make, particularly for children of low-income families, and that education […]

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The Poverty Clinic

March 21, 2011

Publication: The New Yorker
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article by Paul Tough discusses the impact of childhood adversity on adult health and how new research is shaping the work of one pediatric health clinic. The article mentions Jack P. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child, and National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Bruce McEwen of The Rockefeller […]

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Small Child, Big Worries

March 21, 2011

Publication: Time
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article by Jeffrey Kluger from Time magazine takes a closer look at the emerging field of infant mental health research and how children can develop conditions such as depression and anxiety in the first years of life, earlier than previously thought possible. It quotes Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff on how unmitigated stresses in […]

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How Childhood Trauma Can Cause Adult Obesity

January 5, 2010

Publication: Time
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article by Maia Szalavitz describes research linking stressful experiences early in life, including sexual abuse, to effects on health and behavior later on, from obesity to drug abuse. It quotes Jack P. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child, about the significance of the findings.

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2010

Putting the Stress on Stress

December 27, 2010

Publication: The Boston Globe

This Q&A interview was conducted with Center-affiliated faculty member Michelle A. Albert, who is the director of behavioral and neurocardiovascular cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research addresses health disparities among racial and ethnic groups and in what way psychological stress may affect […]

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A Tragedy and a Mystery: Understanding Suicide and Self-Injury

December 17, 2010

Publication: Harvard Magazine
Featured Expert: Matthew K. Nock

This article by Elizabeth Gudrais highlights the research of Matthew K. Nock, Center-affiliated faculty member, and how his expertise in suicide risk is being used to help the U.S. Army. Nock and other researchers are conducting a five-year suicide prevention study using data from past suicides, current soldiers, and new recruits to take a closer […]

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Alzheimer’s Drugs for ‘Lazy Eye’?

December 16, 2010

Publication: Vector
Featured Expert: Takao Hensch

This entry on the Children’s Hospital science and clinical innovation blog features Takao Hensch, who has been studying amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” as a model for understanding brain plasticity. The article, written by Parizad Bilimoria describes how this work is shedding new light on existing therapies while revealing the potential new benefits of more unexpected […]

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Figuring Out Suicidal Behavior

October 7, 2010

Publication: Harvard Gazette
Featured Expert: Matthew K. Nock

This article profiles Center faculty affiliate Matthew K. Nock, who studies suicide and is a newly tenured professor in the psychology department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Source: Center on the Developing Child Media Coverage

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Depressed Parents’ Negative Effects on Kids are Combatable

March 15, 2010

Publication: Los Angeles Times
Featured Expert: William Beardslee

In describing parental depression’s effects on infants and children, this article quotes Center-affiliated faculty member William Beardslee, who is the Gardner/Monks Professor of Child Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. It also cites the Center’s Working Paper 8, “Maternal Depression Can Undermine the Development of Young Children.”

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Preventing Suicide

March 15, 2010

Publication: The Boston Globe
Featured Expert: Matthew K. Nock

The suicide-prevention research of Center-affiliated faculty member Matthew K. Nock is the focus of this Q&A interview by Karen Weintraub. Nock, who is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, discusses cyberbullying and trying to predict suicide in adults and adolescents.

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Stressed Out! The Powerful Biology of Stress

March 6, 2010

Publication: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

This installment of the ABC radio program All in the Mind features interviews with W. Thomas Boyce of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Bruce McEwen of The Rockefeller University discussing the biology of stress and how it affects the brain and children’s development. Boyce and McEwen are both members of the National […]

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The Biology of Emotion—and What It May Teach Us about Helping People to Live Longer

March 1, 2010

Publication: Harvard Public Health Review
Featured Expert: Laura Kubzansky

This article features Center faculty affiliate Laura Kubzansky, who is an Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Kubzansky is at the forefront of research that seeks to understand the link between emotion and health. This article was written by by Sara Rimer and Madeline Drexler.

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Childhood Poverty May Leave Its Mark

February 23, 2010

Publication: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This article discusses research presented at the 2010 annual American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting showing that the earliest years of life are critical for determining future adult earnings and that childhood poverty causes lasting changes in the brain. It features the comments of Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing […]

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Memories are made of this: Kandel outlines how brains manage data, and are changed by it

February 9, 2010

Publication: Harvard Gazette

This article by Steve Bradt summarizes Nobel Prize winner Dr. Eric R. Kandel’s lecture on February 8 in Cambridge as part of the Center’s Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series. His talk, “The Molecular Biology of Memory Storage and the Biological Basis of Individuality,” considered the neural systems and molecular mechanisms that contribute to learning and long-term […]

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2009

The Science of Success

December 1, 2009

Publication: The Atlantic
Featured Expert: W. Thomas Boyce

This article by David Dobbs discusses a new theory of behavioral genetics and quotes pediatrician W. Thomas Boyce, of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and a member of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

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Hub Lab Writing the Book on Face-Reading

November 10, 2009

Publication: The Boston Globe
Featured Expert: Charles A. Nelson III

The article by Patricia Wen describes research conducted at Children’s Hospital Boston by Center-affiliated faculty member Charles A. Nelson III, a member of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. The project studies when and how babies and young children learn to identify faces and discern facial expressions.

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Understanding the Anxious Mind

October 4, 2009

Publication: The New York Times Magazine

The article by Robin Marantz Henig describes research into the development of human temperament by two former and current Center affiliates: Jerome Kagan and Nathan A. Fox. Kagan, who is the Daniel and Amy Starch Research Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, in Harvard’s psychology department, was a member of the Center’s Core Research Seminar from 2006 […]

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Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

October 1, 2009

Publication: PBS
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

This four-hour documentary series, broadcast in October 2009 on PBS stations, features Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff, affiliated Harvard faculty members Ichiro Kawachi and David Williams, and National Scientific Council on the Developing Child member Bruce McEwen of Rockefeller University.

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Want a Rich, Happy Country? Start Young.

August 1, 2009

Publication: Newsweek
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

The article by Jimmy Langman cites Chile as an example of a growing trend in Latin America and beyond for countries to heed the advice of experts “who argue that the best way to strengthen a society and increase development is to improve health, education, and other services for its youngest citizens.” The article quotes […]

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Nova: Autism Genes

July 7, 2009

Publication: PBS
Featured Expert: Takao Hensch

This program segment, which discusses research efforts to identify genes that might be responsible for autism, features comments from Center-affiliated faculty members Takao Hensch and Charles A. Nelson III.

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The Developing Child

March 1, 2009

Publication: Harvard Magazine

Center-sponsored research, initiatives, and affiliated faculty members receive extensive treatment in this cover article and the related Web-only content, written by Elizabeth Gudrais

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The Brains of Babes

March 1, 2009

Publication: CBC Radio One's "Ideas" Program
Featured Expert: Jack P. Shonkoff

In three episodes, broadcast on March 4, March 11, and March 18, 2009, reporter Jill Eisen details how new research into brain development, human biology, and behavior is showing how early experience can affect lifelong health and well-being. The series features both W. Thomas Boyce, a member of the National Scientific Council on the Developing […]

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