HE CENTER ON THE DEVELOPING CHILD was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it equalizes opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. We view healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity and strong communities, and our mission is to advance that vision by leveraging science to enhance child well-being. Drawing on the full breadth of intellectual resources available across Harvard University’s schools and affiliated hospitals, the Center generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of closing the gap between what we know and what we do to support positive life outcomes for children, particularly those who are vulnerable, in the United States and throughout the world. Specifically, the Center is committed to:

• building a multi-disciplinary science of child health, learning, and behavior that elucidates the early roots of lifelong disparities;
• advancing our understanding of how to reduce preventable disparities through rigorous analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation of innovative program and practice models;
• catalyzing the creation of effective, science-based policies and practices through strategic relationships and enhanced capacity for knowledge transfer; and
• preparing future and current leaders to make science-based policy decisions that advance the healthy development of children, families, and communities, and bring high returns to all of society.

The Opportunity

A remarkable explosion of new knowledge about the developing brain and the human genome, linked to advances in the behavioral and social sciences, offers current policymakers and civic leaders exceptional opportunities that did not exist a decade ago. Science now offers increasing promise as a vehicle for greater understanding of how the foundations of successful adaptation and effective learning in the childhood years lead to better outcomes in academic achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, and successful parenting of the next generation.

Through building, teaching, and applying this growing knowledge base, we have an unprecedented opportunity to launch a new, science-driven era to promote the healthy development of all children, particularly those whose life prospects are compromised by significant adversity.

The Center on the Developing Child occupies a unique niche among university-based institutes and independent think tanks. Few institutions have the capacity to call on the contributions of so many distinguished leaders in neuroscience, molecular biology, genetics, psychology, sociology, economics, and the professional disciplines of medicine, education, public health, public policy, law, business, and communications. The Center’s greatest promise lies in its ability to leverage this extensive expertise to secure a brighter future for the world through enlightened investment in its children.

Download PDF of the Center’s Mission & Activities Summary Sheet