EBRL Goes Down Under!

A scientific conference on reading hosted in Australia? Sign us up! Each year the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading hosts a scientific conference to gather minds from across the globe that each have one thing in common: the study of reading. This year, members of EBRL were lucky enough to go and even present! EBRL’s own Emily Harriott and Caden Carter were able to present posters and Andrea Burgess gave a talk. We always enjoy chances to meet other scientists in research and expand our knowledge. (And being able to do it in such a beautiful location isn’t bad either!)

If you would like to find out more about the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, please visit their website here.

EBRL Says Goodbye (for now) to Julie and Laura

Long-time lab members say their goodbyes this month as they continue on their separate journeys in life. We’ve spent many a time reminiscing over the past month and can’t tell you just how much a pleasure they’ve been in the lab over these years. Although we hate to see them go, they both know we’ll never be more than a phone call or text away.

Words are seldom enough to describe what they’ve meant to us, but we all know they’ll always be with us even as the lab continues on without them. Farewell (for now) Julie and Laura, we’ll see you again soon!

If you’ve used Julie in the past to contact and communicate with the lab, please reach out via the lab email at educationbrain@vanderbilt.edu. It’ll be a period of transition in the oncoming weeks, but someone will always be at the helm of that email to help facilitate contact with the lab.

Dr. Andrew Lynn Joins the Faculty of University of Louisville

EBRL post-doctoral fellow Dr. Andrew Lynn has accepted an offer to join the University of Louisville! Our loss is their gain when he becomes an Assistant Professor in cognitive neuroscience this fall. Post-doctoral fellowships help people who have just earned a doctorate gain the necessary skills and publications to begin their careers as Principal Investigators in academia. He leaves the lab with our blessing and our continued support as he begins his academic career. Good luck in Louisville Andrew!

Congratulations to Doctors Tin and Sage!

A BIG congrats to EBRL’s own Dr. Sage Pickren and Dr. Tin Nguyen on the successful completion of their PhD program! Here pictured are the brand new doctors with their foam swords in lieu of the traditional PhD swords. (It’s a thing I swear) EBRL couldn’t be prouder of them and we’re all wishing them the best as they continue on their journeys.

Congrats to Dr. Tin Nguyen on a Successful Thesis Defense!

As you may or may not know, the presentation of a doctoral thesis is a massive milestone for individuals seeking to acquire a doctoral degree. It’s the final great stepping stone before becoming a doctor and we are extraordinarily pleased to announce that EBRL’s own Tin Nguyen officially defended his! Tin is now officially Dr. Nguyen and we couldn’t be happier for him. All of us here at the lab can’t wait to see where he goes from here.

You can learn a little about Dr. Nguyen’s thesis from his flyer here: (You can also send him an email. If there’s one thing we love talking about is research!)

Dr. Cutting to be Awarded at 11th Annual Research to Practice Symposium

The AIM Institute for Learning & Research annual Research to Practice Symposium is a free, day-long event that brings together literacy researchers and educators to learn and collaborate on important literacy themes. This year’s event, which will take place in-person as well as be accessible to a global audience via live stream, will focus on the complexity of reading comprehension and provide educators with insights for the classroom. The presentations will be moderated by Nancy Hennessy, author of The Reading Comprehension Blueprint. The event will also include presentations by Dr. Hugh Catts, Director of FSU School of Communication Science and Disorders at the Florida Center for Reading & Research, Dr. Amy Elleman, Director of the Literacy Studies Ph.D program at Middle Tennessee State University, and Dr. Tiffany Hogan, Director of the Speech and Language Literacy Lab at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Dr. Cutting will receive the Hollis Scarborough Award and make remarks during the event. Past Hollis Scarborough Award recipients include Dr. Hollis Scarborough (who received the inaugural award in 2019), Dr. Linnea Ehri, Dr. Mark Seidenberg, and Dr. Don Compton.

Register to attend the 2023 symposium at: www.aimpa.org/symposium.

EBRL at 29th Annual SSSR Meeting

Last week Ph.D. students Tin Nguyen, Andrea Burgess, Natalie Huerta, Emily Harriott and Dr. Amanda Martinez-Lincoln attended the 29th Annual Society for the Scientific Study of Reading conference. They were happy to represent both the science of reading that we study here at the lab and Vanderbilt University at large. They return refreshed and brimming with knowledge from their peers.

Pictured (Left to Right): Emily Harriott, Dr. Amanda Martinez-Lincoln, Andrea Burgess, Natalie Huerta, and Tin Nguyen

EBRL Recruiting Kindergarteners for Reading Study!

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

EBRL at Brain Blast 2022

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.

 

 

NIH funds $8 Million Grant for EBRL Research

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.