In recognition for her continued contributions and labor for Vanderbilt’s research and staff, Dr. Laurie Cutting was honored this year to be awarded the Peabody College Distinguished Faculty Colleague Award for 2021-2022. Receiving this award is an exceptional honor, yet there is always more to do. Research isn’t something you can hold or touch with your hands, but a horizon to strive for. And so, the work continues.
We are currently recruiting participants for our executive function study with kindergarteners. If you have a child that is a kindergartener and might be interested in participating in a longitudinal study tracking their reading/academic progress, please fill out this survey.
We are also currently seeking individuals ages 8 to 20 with reading difficulties or Neurofibromatosis Type 1 to participate in our research study. If interested or if you want more information, please contact us at (615) 875-5534 or email us at educationbrain@vanderbilt.edu.
Click to see the flyer for more information!
Flyer for Families of Kindergarteners
Andrea Burgess, third-year graduate student in the lab, received funding for ReproNim/INCF Training Fellowship Program, sponsored jointly by ReproNim and the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF). This is a full year Train-the-Trainer fellowship program which provides Fellows with conceptual and practical training in reproducible neuroimaging, as well as tailored support for individual syllabus development and implementation of reproducibility training back home at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. She is excited to take what she learns from this program to help improve neuroimaging practices at Vanderbilt!
To find out more about this fellowship, click here.
EBRL had a fun time meeting you at Brain Blast 2022!
Brain Blast is a free educational event for kids held every year by the Vanderbilt Brain Institute. Every year children K-8th grade get to meet and learn from real brain scientists about the brain and we always enjoy meeting everyone and teaching them about our lab and what we do at EBRL. This year Mr. Commodore himself came for a visit and even practiced laying still for an MRI! If you’d like to come to next year’s Brain Blast and participate in this free event, please check back with our site regularly and with the Vanderbilt Brain Institute’s calendar. Brain Blast occurs every year in March.
The first few years of an infant’s life are vastly important for development. Long before enrolling in school, elements of their environment can affect the trajectories of children’s outcomes for the rest of their lives. In an effort to studies these environmental factors, the National Institutes of Health have awarded Vanderbilt a grant as part of a multi-institutional overview of variables influencing infant and child brain development, including substance exposure.
Substance use in pregnant women has increased over the past decade, highlighting the importance of efforts to understand how environmental and other exposures during pregnancy affect brain development and child outcomes. The PRELUDE consortium for the HEALthy Brain and Child Development study will recruit 2720 pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimester and follow their children to age 10, using neuroimaging, behavioral assessments, EEG, biosample collection, and assessments of parent-child interaction and the home environment. This research will lead to greater understanding of factors affecting early childhood brain development, allowing targeted interventions and improved outcomes for mother-child dyads.
If you’d like to learn more about the study, you can learn more about it here or here.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Mercedes Spencer!
Dr. Spencer will begin a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment in the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University in July 2022. Her ongoing and future work aims to identify potential early indicators of reading comprehension difficulties to better predict and prevent later reading comprehension problems in children.
Join us in congratulating EBRL’s Dr. Katherine Aboud in receiving the Director’s Early Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health! The award supports outstanding scientists with the intellect, scientific creativity, drive, and maturity bypass the traditional postdoctoral training period to launch independent research careers.
Check out the full release on Vanderbilt’s site here.
“The Rebecca L. Sandak Young Investigator Award was established in 2008 to honor the memory of Rebecca Sandak, who died before her research goals and ideas could be fully realized. The award is intended to recognize a gifted young reading researcher who shows outstanding promise and dedication to the field. “
We’ve long known Dr. Spencer’s passion and dedication when it comes to research, so it is always nice when such inspiration and skill is recognized by others in the field. The Education and Brain Research Lab heartily congratulates her on her well-earned recognition. We fully expect to congratulate her on many more in the future.
If you would like to find out more about the award and it’s origin, please follow this link.
2021 Award winner: Mercedes Spencer and Annie Yixun Li
2020 Award winner: Marc Goodrich and Elizabeth Stevens
2019 Award winner: Florina Erbeli
2018 Award winner: Jamie Quinn
2017 Award winner: Laura Steacy
2016 Award winner: Maaike Vandermosten
2015 Award winners: Elsje van Bergen and Elizabeth Tighe
2014 Award winners: Suzanne Adlof and Sara Hart
2013 Award winner: Fabienne Chetail
2012 Award winner: Elizabeth Norton
2011 Award winners: Yaacov Petscher and Jennifer Gilbert
2010 Award winner: Eva Marinus
2009 Award winner: Rebecca Betjemann
2008 Award winner: Shelley Xiuli Tong
Click to see the flyer for more information!
Flyer for Families of Kindergarteners