- Early factors that promote resilience.
Overview
The 2018 Think Tank was held on May 2, 2018 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. As in the prior years, it convened 500 stakeholders from fields including education, business, philanthropy, and medicine who directly impact policy and practice in early child development, and served as a platform to showcase cutting-edge neuroscience research related to children ages 0-3. The theme was “Early Factors that Promote Resilience.” It featured a diverse group of neuroscientists speaking on the various buffering factors that can help children thrive during the first few years of life.
Desired Impact
The 2018 Think Tank speakers highlighted many buffering factors that can help promote resilience, including:
- managing stressors
- parent-child synchrony
- fathers’ involvement
- reflective function
- emotional regulation
Whole Child Awards were presented to Matthew Melmed, MD (Visionary); Tom Boyce, MD (Medical); and Patricia Kuhl, PhD; and Andrew Meltzoff, PhD (Community).
2018 Think Tank Speakers
Marc Brackett, PhD
Founding Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and professor in the Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine at Yale University
Topic: Stressed Out/Burnt Out: Are we Giving Today’s Children (and Adults) the Social and Emotional Tools to Thrive?
Natasha Cabrera, PhD
Family Involvement Laboratory, Maryland Population Research Center
Topic: Making the Case for Fathers: How and Why They Matter for Children’s Development
Ruth Feldman, PhD
Simms/Mann Professor of Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University
Topic: Empathy and How it is Researched in Infancy
Phil Fisher, PhD
Professor of Education, Stanford University, and Senior Fellow at the Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Topic: Migrating the Behavioral and Neurobiological Effects of Early Life Stress Through Care-Giver Based Interventions
Pat Levitt, PhD
Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Topic: Master of Ceremonies
Sonia Lupien, PhD
Director of Centre for Studies on Human Stress, University of Montreal
Topic: Stress, Mom, Dad, and Me
Emeran Mayer, MD
Director, Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, UCLA
Topic: The Mind-Gut Connection
Michael Meaney, PhD
Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health Researcher, Douglas Institute
Topic: The Nature and Nurture Alliance in Child Development
Arietta Slade, PhD
Professor of Clinical Child Psychology, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University
Topic: Relationships and Reflection: From Fear to Hope
Laurie Rubin
Performer and Motivational Speaker
Topic: Opera Performance and Conversation with Dr. Pat Levitt
2018 Whole Child Award Winner
Matthew Melmed, MD
2018 Whole Child Award Winner – Visionary
Executive Director, Zero to Three
Tom Boyce, MD
2018 Whole Child Award Winner – Medical
Lisa and John Pritzker, Distinguished Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health, UCSF
Pat Kuhl, PhD & Andrew Meltzoff, PhD
2018 Whole Child Award Winner – Community
Co-directors of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington
