The Brain Architects

In this episode of The Brain Architects, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, moderates a conversation with Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, and Natalie Slopen, ScD, drawing on insights from the new working paper From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment . The discussion explores how stability across children’s developmental environments shapes their well-being b...

In this episode of the Brain Architects, Nat Kendall-Taylor , CEO of the FrameWorks Institute , Lindsey Burghardt , our Chief Science Officer; Margot Brown, Senior Vice President of Justice & Equity at the Environmental Defense Fund; and Jaclyn Roessel, President and CEO of Grownup Navajo, dive into the findings and recommendations from this report as well as their own experience and expertise...

In this episode of the Brain Architects, Dr. Nat Kendall-Taylor , CEO of the FrameWorks Institute , Dr. Lindsey Burghardt , our Chief Science Officer, and Dr. Leah Austin, President and CEO of the National Black Child Development Institute , dive into the findings and recommendations from the latest report , created in collaboration with the Frameworks Institute. This conversation explores researc...

In this episode of the Brain Architects, the Center’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Lindsey Burghardt , talked with Jennifer B. Wallace , award-winning journalist, and founder of the Mattering Institute who has written extensively on the topic of mattering. The Center on the Developing Child recently collaborated with Jennifer on a new working paper: "Mattering in Early Childhood: Building a Strong F...

In this episode of the Brain Architects, Lindsey Burghardt , MD, MPH, FAAP, moderates a conversation with Joseph G. Allen, DSc, MPH , associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvard’s Healthy Buildings Program, and Sujeet Rao, Director of the Health and Wellbeing practice for USC’s Public Exchange , on how wildfire smoke is affecting children’s health a...

In this episode of The Brain Architects, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP , moderates a conversation with Alison Lee, MD, MS , and Joseph Allen, DSc, MPH , on how air quality during pregnancy and early childhood impacts lifelong health and development . The discussion has a special focus on indoor air, where we spend more than 90% of our time. They cover science-informed, practical strategies to i...

In this episode of the Brain Architects, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP , moderates a conversation with Michelle Kang , CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and Jennifer Vanos, PhD , Associate Professor in the School of Sustainability and the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University, on how climate change is affecting the experiences and expos...

In this episode of the Brain Architects, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP , talks with Rebecca Spencer, PhD , a researcher on the science of sleep, about why sleep is so essential during early childhood. From brain architecture and emotional regulation to the role of naps and the importance of creating cool sleeping spaces in our warming world, Dr. Spencer explains how sleep shapes early childhood...

Access to clean water is too often determined by where we live and the political and economic influence we have to demand it. Yet water is a critical part of a child’s environment, and disruptions in its availability and quality can impact young children’s development and health, both in the moment and throughout their lives. We explore how communities are mobilizing to address disparities in wate...

Why are the early years of a child’s life so important for brain development ? How are connections built in the brain, and how can early brain development affect a child’s future health? This episode of The Brain Architects dives into all these questions and more. First, Dr. Jack Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child, explains more about the science behind how brains are built—...

What is toxic stress ? What effects can it have on a child’s body and development, and how can those effects be prevented? What does it mean to build resilience? This episode of The Brain Architects explores what “toxic stress” means, and what we can do about it. Host Sally Pfitzer is once again joined by Center Director Dr. Jack Shonkoff as they dive into the different types of stress, including...

What is “serve and return”? What does it mean to have a “responsive relationship” with a child? How do responsive relationships support healthy brain development? And what can parents and caregivers do in their day-to-day lives to build these sorts of relationships? This episode of The Brain Architects podcast addresses all these questions and more! Fortunately, there are many quick, easy, and fre...

While the coronavirus pandemic has changed many things around the world, it has not stopped child development. In this series of special episodes of The Brain Architects podcast, we aim to share helpful resources and ideas in support of all those who are caring for children while dealing with the impacts of COVID-19. The first guest of this special series is Center Director Dr. Jack Shonkoff. He a...

In the midst of a global pandemic, pediatricians are serving a unique role. While the coronavirus is generally showing milder effects on babies and children than on adults, there are still health concerns and considerations for infants in need of scheduled vaccinations, and kids who are home all day with parents who may be facing stressful situations. In the second episode of our special COVID-19...

While the current coronavirus pandemic is affecting all of us, it isn’t affecting all of us equally. Some communities—especially communities of color—are feeling the brunt of the virus more than others, in terms of higher rates of infection as well as economic fallout, among many other ways. In this third special COVID-19 episode of The Brain Architects podcast, host Sally Pfitzer is joined by Dr....

Shelter-in-place orders are meant to help protect our communities from the current coronavirus pandemic. But for some people, home isn’t always a safe place. For those who are experiencing domestic violence, or believe they know someone one who is, what options are available to stay both physically healthy and safe from violence? In this fourth episode of our COVID-19 series of The Brain Architect...

While some countries and U.S. states are beginning to reopen businesses and other gathering places, the pandemic is still very much with us. Physical distancing will likely be a way of life until a vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available. So much change, including the threat of illness, and grief of those who have lost loved ones, means that mental health is a great concern. Fortunately, there ar...

How do our biological systems work together to respond to chronic stress? What do these responses mean for early learning and lifelong health? And when we say that early experiences matter, what do we mean by early ? This episode of The Brain Architects podcast addresses all these questions and more!

How do we use the science of early childhood development to implement practical strategies and overcome longstanding barriers in the early childhood field? How can we ensure that families’ voices are heard when we create policies or programs? To kick off this episode, Center Director Dr. Jack Shonkoff describes what the science means for policymakers, system leaders, care providers, and caregivers...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we’ve learned, what needs to chang...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we’ve learned, what needs to chang...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we’ve learned, what needs to chang...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we’ve learned, what needs to chang...

These days, resilience is needed more than ever, and one simple, under-recognized way of supporting healthy and resilient child development is as old as humanity itself: play. Far from frivolous, play contributes to sturdy brain architecture, the foundations of lifelong health, and the building blocks of resilience, yet its importance is often overlooked. In this podcast, Dr. Jack Shonkoff explain...

In April, we hosted a webinar about the recently released IDEAS Impact Framework Toolkit —a free online resource designed to help innovators in the field of early childhood build improved programs and products that are positioned to achieve greater impact in their communities. During the webinar, we provided an overview of the site and had the opportunity to hear from two organizations in the fiel...