Penn State Penn State: College of the Liberal Arts
/
/
New Developmental Neuroscience Research Initiative at the Child Study Center

New Developmental Neuroscience Research Initiative at the Child Study Center

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) blueprint for Neuroscience Research (www.neuroscienceblueprint.nih.gov) has identified neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity as fundamental themes in neuroscience research that cross disciplinary boundaries and which will be the focus of targeted requests for applications (RFAs) over the next several years.

The Human Developmental Neuroscience Initiative (HDNI) will help position the University to take advantage of these scientific trends. The Initiative’s goal is to foster a collaborative intellectual climate for cross-disciplinary research in human developmental neuroscience. It will do so by building on existing strengths in human development, prevention science, developmental and clinical psychology, genetics, and cognitive, computational, and behavioral neuroscience. Because of the diversity of research interests represented by existing faculty — perception, memory, movement, emotion, social interaction, language, attention, school readiness — the initiative will focus on substantive research topics like these, on expanding access to imaging methodologies such as EEG, NIRS, and fMRI, and on theoretical advances in understanding biological and behavioral development.

The initiative will meet biweekly to discuss recently published journal articles, participate in hands-on workshops, participate in lectures by visiting developmental neuroscientists, and plan collaborative research projects.

The HDNI is supported by a grant from the Social Sciences Research Consortium/Children Youth and Families Consortium (SSRI/CYFC) and is based in the Child Study Center (CSC) within the College of the Liberal Arts.

Human Developmental Neuroscience Faculty:

Lead Faculty:
Rick Gilmore, Associate Professor, Psychology

David Baker, Professor, College of Education
Sheri Berenbaum, Professor, Psychology
Karen Bierman, Professor, Psychology
Clancy Blair, Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Kristin Buss, Associate Professor, Psychology
Pamela Cole, Professor, Psychology
Paul Eslinger, Professor, Neurology
Mark Greenberg, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Cynthia Huang-Pollack, Assistant Professor, Psychology
Frank Hillary, Assistant Professor, Psychology
Byron Jones, Professor, Biobehavioral Health
Judy Kroll, Professor, Psychology and Linguistics
Jeffrey Lorberbaum, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Maya Misra, Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences & Disorders
Peter Molenaar, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Ginger Moore, Assistant Professor, Psychology
Robert Sainburg, Associate Professor, Kinesiology
Steven Schiff, Professor, Department of Engineering Science & Mechanics
Cynthia Stifter, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Doug Teti, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Laureen Teti, Acting Director, Child Study Center
Dan Weiss, Assistant Professor, Psychology
Michael Wenger, Associate Professor, Psychology
Susan Woodhouse, Assistant Professor, Counseling Psychology