Panelists:

Michael C. Lu    Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Linda Burton    Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare

Nicole Bush      Lisa and John Pritzker Distinguished Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Health UCSF

Introduction and Moderation:  Ron Dahl            Director of Institute of Human Development

This moderated panel discussion will focus on an exciting frontier for interdisciplinary science-based innovation through the advancement of integrative (and actionable) understanding of early development and learning.  Developmental science is providing new insights into the inherently intertwined nature of several aspects of healthy development—including physical maturation and brain development, as well as the learning processes that underpin cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social development. These insights are emerging at the interface of several disciplines, combined with growing understanding of the crucial role of social, family, and cultural contexts in which learning and development occur. A more integrative understanding of these developmental and learning processes can help us to advance beyond single-discipline approaches to intervention—leading to innovative approaches that target windows of opportunity to improve trajectories for multiple developmental outcomes (e.g. health, education, social and emotional well being, and to address compelling social inequities).

We will discuss a bold vision for advancing this frontier of transformative innovation. We will consider: (1) how to better integrate understanding of early development and learning across disciplines; (2) how to leverage insights from developmental science into social impact; and (3) how this frontier of innovation is relevant not only to our research mission, but also to a broader set of goals in teaching/mentoring, community engagement, and influencing social policy.