Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research
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Yingying Wang,
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Yingying Wang is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
She specializes in using advanced neuroimaging techniques (e.g., fMRI, DWI, EEG, MEG) to study brain development during literacy and language acquisition.
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What is the future direction for your early childhood research?
"I am fascinated by how the brain changes in the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life. I am interested in identifying what kinds of early parental styles and home environments benefit baby’s brain development (especially for language, literacy and learning). That’s why I named my lab 'Neuroimaging for Language, Literacy and Learning.'
"To be more specific, I have three future directions for my early childhood research: (1) for children who are deaf/hard of hearing (CDHH), how does early auditory deprivation affect their later abilities in developing language, reading and learning? Can we design more effective teaching strategies based on what we learned from the brain?; (2) for children with cochlear implants (CIs) at a very young age — younger than 2 years old — what are the brain factors predicting better speech perception outcomes after cochlear implantation? What can we do to boost the speech perception outcomes for this age? Can neuroimaging techniques also help with CI programming?; and (3) Can executive function (EF) make a child more resilient to reading difficulties if an effective early intervention for developing EF is in place?"
Are there any new research projects or activities you are starting on now?
"We have started to recruit participants with cochlear implants, or who are candidates for cochlear implantation, for a pilot study that aims to collect imaging data for understanding the brain factors supporting better speech perception outcomes in CI users and predicting speech perception outcomes in CI candidates. Meanwhile, our cross-sectional study titled 'Understanding the Reading Brain' is approved by IRB and is actively recruiting children who are deaf/hard of hearing and age gender matched peers. This study aims to identify brain networks facilitating reading in CDHH and the differences of brain networks between CDHH and control group."
Why is early childhood research important?
"A baby’s brain starts forming prenatally, about three weeks after conception, and develops rapidly from then to preschool age. A newborn has 100 billion neurons, which are not all yet connected in networks. The early childhood experience (e.g., interaction with parents and caregivers, nutrition) will facilitate the trillions of connections among neurons in a child’s brain. The neural network expands exponentially in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which is a crucial period because rapid growth is happening and the highly plastic brain can be wired through repetitive experience. Though the brain continues developing into childhood, adolescence and adulthood, early childhood lays the foundation for future brain development and is the critical time to build a strong and supportive foundation.
"Early childhood research can provide us with evidence on how experiences affect children and how we can help children who are at risk for language, literacy and learning impairments. The understanding of early childhood will enhance education and intervention. Early childhood intervention has been shown to lead to better lives in children with autism and with other impairments because of the high plasticity nature of the brain during the early childhood period."
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NAECR Knowledge event focuses on video data collection
The Feb. 7 NAECR Knowledge event, “Video Data Collection, Administration and Coding,” at the Nebraska Union outlined ways video can enhance research studies, including tips for using video.
Read more
cyfs.unl.edu
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Please join us at the
UNL reception in Baltimore
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Faculty, staff, students, alumni, colleagues and friends are invited to attend the University of Nebraska–Lincoln reception at the upcoming
2019 SRCD Biennial Meeting
in Baltimore.
The UNL reception is
Thursday, March 21
, from
7 to 9 p.m
. in the Hilton Baltimore Calloway AB Room.
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Please consider joining us. The reception is sponsored by:
- Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior
- College of Education & Human Sciences
- Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies
- Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders
- Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research
- Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Sommer Fousek at
sfousek2@unl.edu
.
Hope to see you there!
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Baby QUILS for Child Language Researchers
The Baby Quick Interactive Language Screener (Baby QUILS) is a newly developed computerized screener assessing language development in English-speaking children 24-36 months of age.
This measure is a downward extension of the QUILS (
https://quilscreener.com
). Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Golinkoff, Jill de Villiers and Aquiles Iglesias are seeking researchers who are interested in joining the norming effort for this new assessment. Researchers would need to use this new measure with 2-year-olds and contribute their anonymized data to the norming sample. Participating researchers will have access to Baby QUILS instruments free of charge.
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Here are recent publications from NAECR researchers:
Marc Goodrich, Special Education & Communication Disorders, UNL
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Would you like to see your work featured here? Contact us at
naecr@unl.edu
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Bridging Research and Practice
Do you want to translate your research into a positive impact for the field?
As a leading publication for early childhood professionals, the
Child Care Exchange magazine
seeks to provide a bridge linking research and practice — and to share it with students and professionals at all levels.
Nominate your own previously published research, or the research of a colleague or graduate student.
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Staff in CYFS are available to assist with your
proposal development
for these or other funding opportunities.
Please contact
Lisa Knoche
if you are interested in discussing funding opportunities for your research.
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New!
Buffett Early Childhood Institute: Graduate Scholars Program
The Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska is accepting applications from advanced doctoral students within the university system for one-year fellowships worth up to $25,000.
The Graduate Scholars program seeks to support high-quality research from diverse fields that impact the early years, including health, education, social work, music, art, the neurosciences and others.
Proposals are due
March 29, 2019
.
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New!
NIH Refinement and Testing of Interventions to Sustain ADHD Treatment
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to encourage pilot studies to assess the preliminary effectiveness of augmented or modified interventions designed to promote enhanced and sustained improvement in ADHD symptoms and functional impairments across settings and transitions in children, adolescents and young adults.
The funding agency encourages applicants to contact the Program Contact listed in the RFA early in the application process to discuss the match between their application concept and the priorities outlined in the funding opportunity announcement.
NIMH intends to commit $1.4 million in direct costs in fiscal year 2020 to fund 5-6 awards.
Proposals are due
May 1, 2019
, and
Nov. 15, 2019
.
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New!
NIH Secondary Data Analysis to Examine Long-Term and/or Potential Cross-Over Effects of Prevention Interventions: What are the Benefits for Preventing Mental Health Disorders?
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to encourage research to integrate/harmonize existing data sets from preventive intervention trials implemented early in life to:
1) examine risk and protective factors relevant to later mental health outcomes in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood; and
2) determine whether preventive interventions delivered earlier in life have long-term effects, and/or cross-over effects (e.g., unanticipated beneficial effects), on important mental health outcomes, including serious mental illness (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicide ideation and behaviors, and psychosis behaviors).
NIMH intends to commit $3 million to fund 4-6 awards and NCCIH intends to commit $500,000 to fund 1 award.
Proposals are due
May 2, 2019
, and
Jan. 2, 2020
.
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NIH HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study
This funding opportunity will support the planning and initial development of a large-scale, multi-site research study to prospectively examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social and emotional development beginning prenatally through childhood, and the long-term impacts of pre/postnatal drug and adverse environmental exposures on brain and behavioral health and risk for substance use and mental disorders.
Proposals are due
March 25, 2019
.
An optional letter of intent is due 30 days prior to the application due date.
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University of Nebraska Core Facility Grant Program
The University of Nebraska is extending a grant program to encourage faculty researchers across all four campuses to employ NU core facilities in their research projects. The program’s aim is to help researchers generate data that strengthens grant proposals, resubmissions and peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Faculty members from all ranks are eligible to submit proposals if they did not use core facilities or associated technology platforms in fiscal year 2017 or 2018. Applicants may request $5,000 per facility, or up to $9,000 total if they use more than one facility.
Proposals are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
New awards will not be made after
March 31, 2019
.
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Administration for Children and Families: Early Care and Education Research Scholars Grants
The ACF Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation is considering funding Child Care, Head Start, Family Strengthening and Behavioral Interventions graduate student dissertation grants in 2019:
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Head Start Graduate Student Research Grants
Six awards are expected, each of $20,000 to $25,000.
Proposals are due
April 2, 2019
.
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Behavioral Interventions Scholars Grants
Four awards are expected, each of $20,000 to $25,000.
Proposals are due
April 14, 2019
.
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Family Strengthening Scholars Grants
Three awards are expected, each of $10,000 to $25,000.
Proposals are due
May 30, 2019
.
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NIH: Reducing Health Disparities among Minority and Underserved Children
This NIH initiative encourages research that targets the reduction of health disparities among children, including a focus on ethnic and racial minority children and populations of underserved children.
Specific targeted areas of research include bio-behavioral studies that incorporate multiple factors that influence child health disparities (biological, lifestyle factors, environmental, social, economic, cultural and family influences); studies that target the specific health promotion needs of children with a known illness and/or disability; and studies that test and evaluate the comparative effectiveness of health promotion interventions conducted in traditional and nontraditional settings.
Proposals are due
May 7, 2020
.
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William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program
The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand researchers' expertise in new disciplines, methods and content areas.
Applicants should have a track record of conducting high-quality research and an interest in pursuing a significant shift in their trajectories as researchers.
Proposals are due
July 2, 2019
.
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New!
Nebraska Healthy Kids Summit
April 23-24, 2019
Nebraska Inovation Campus
Lincoln, Nebraska
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Nebraska Healthy Kids Summit promotes healthy eating and active living in Nebraska communities. This event connects stakeholders to explore research, practice and advocacy approaches, leading to a joint call to action promoting healthy eating and active living for children and families in Nebraska communities.
The Summit is accepting proposals for poster presentations.
Proposals are due
March 18, 2019
.
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International Society for Developmental Psychobiology
Annual Meeting
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The International Society for Developmental Psychobiology encourages research on the development of behavior in all organisms, with special attention to the effects of biological factors operating at any level of organization.
Symposium submission topics and categories include models of neurodevelopmental disorders, physiological processes, socio-emotional, perception, sleep, neurodevelopment and plasticity, learning, memory, cognitive processes, genetics and epigenetics, stress and adversity, GxE interactions, cultural influences, sensori-motor development and parental behavior.
Proposals are due
April 1, 2019
.
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Cognitive Development Society
Oct. 17-19, 2019
Louisville, Kentucky
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Cognitive Development Society aims to provide a unified voice for the wide range of scholars, practitioners, and others who are interested in change and continuity in the intellectual processes that support mental life.
Proposals are due
July 2, 2019
.
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Society for Research in Child Development
2019 Biennial Meeting
March 21-23, 2019
Baltimore, Maryland
The Society for Research in Child Development stimulates and supports research to encourage cooperation among individuals engaged in the scientific study of child development, and to encourage applications of research findings.
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2019 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting
April 5-9, 2019
Toronto, Canada
The AERA Annual Meeting is the world’s largest gathering of education researchers and a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative studies in an array of areas.
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New!
K-3 CLASS Observation Training
March 21-22, 2019
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Prem S. Paul Research Center at Whittier School
Room 136
Participants will learn how development affects classroom interactions and the link between effective teacher-child interactions as it relates to learning. Training includes an overview of the CLASS measure and its uses, and will prepare participants to assess teaching quality based on the CLASS system.
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University-Based Child Development Laboratory Schools:
A Vision for the Future
March 11, 2019
1:30 – 3 p.m.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
141 Louise Pound Hall
Dr. Brent McBride will present on strategies that allow university-based child development laboratory schools to successfully balance the demands associated with providing high-quality early care and education services, while also maximizing teaching, research and outreach/engagement activities.
Dr. McBride is one of the leading researchers in the area of father involvement in families of children with disabilities. His cutting-edge re
search provides critical insight on how to better support fathers struggling within this challenging parenting context, as well as early intervention personnel working with these families.
This event is co-sponsored by UNL Child, Youth and Family Studies, and NAECR.
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Pediatric Research Seminars
March 15, 2019
Noon – 1 p.m.
Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Glow Auditorium
The UNMC Department of Pediatrics and the Child Health Research Institute sponsor Pediatric Research Seminars on the third Friday of each month. The location of the seminars alternates between UNMC and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center.
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Spring 2019 SBSRC Interdisciplinary Brown Bag Series
The Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Consortium is hosting a brown bag series on community-based participatory research (CBPR).
CBPR is an approach to research that involves equitable partnerships among researchers, communities and organizations. Partners are involved in all phases and aspects of the research process. CBPR practitioners benefit from highly relevant and generalizable findings with real-world, broader impacts.
CBPR Best Practices
March 13, 2019
Noon – 1 p.m.
Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center, Unity Room (212)
CBPR Community and Researcher Panel
April 10, 2019
Noon – 1 p.m.
Nebraska Union, Regency Suite
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University of Nebraska–Lincoln Reception
SRCD Biennial Meeting
March 21, 2019
Hilton Baltimore, Calloway AB Room
Baltimore, Maryland
7 – 9 p.m.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni, colleagues and friends are invited to attend the University of Nebraska–Lincoln reception at the upcoming
2019 SRCD Biennial Meeting
in Baltimore.
The UNL reception is
Thursday, March 21
,
from
7 to 9 p.m
. in the Hilton Baltimore Calloway AB Room. Hope to see you there!
The reception is sponsored by:
- Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior
- College of Education & Human Sciences
- Department of Child, Youth & Family Studies
- Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders
- Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research
- Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families & Schools
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67th Annual Nebraska Symposium on Motivation
"Nature and Psychology: How the Natural World Shapes our Cognition"
April 11-12, 2019
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Nebraska Union
The primary goal of this symposium is to delve deeper into the question of the mechanism(s) underlying the positive effects of natural environments through bringing together researchers from various disciplines.
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NAECR Networking: Connecting with Community Research Partners
May 1, 2019
Nebraska Union, Colonial A
2 – 4 p.m.
Additional details coming soon!
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Is there an upcoming conference you want to publicize? A new publication you would like to share? Let us know!
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Connecting Research and Policy
Learn more and sign up for alerts about legislation relevant to early childhood researchers.
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Student Research Opportunities
Advertise opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students seeking work experience in early childhood research.
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Find a Researcher
Find and collaborate with other early childhood researchers across the NU system.
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NAECR News archives available
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NAECR News will be shared twice a month to inform the early childhood research community across the NU system.
If this newsletter has been forwarded to you and you would like to be added to the mailing list, please email us using the button above.
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