YCSC Connections

Featuring updates, news you can use, events, and more from the Yale Child Study Center.

Chair's Message

As we enter a new academic year and look back upon the past 12 months, so much has changed while it may be that quite a lot feels the same. We continue to navigate yet another uptick in COVID cases, along with ways to continue to meet and gather in person and virtually. And, as I addressed at this week’s opening Grand Rounds session, we work together to stay grounded through it all from the changes in our academic and medical systems to those in our personal lives, and in our world. We also continue to celebrate good news within our communities, including that shared on Tuesday and in this newsletter.

Indeed, we continue to hold onto gratitude as we forge forward to support and lift one another up despite continued challenges in our "new normal" of behavioral health crises, tragedies, and natural disasters affecting far too many, while also continually working to improve the lives of children and families. Thank you all, as ever, for your role in moving this work forward.

I do hope you will find this newsletter and its new format both engaging and helpful, and please be sure to save the date for our upcoming annual meeting on November 8th! More to come on that very soon.


Linda Mayes, MD
Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology; Chair,
Yale Child Study Center

Departmental News & Updates

September 12, 2023
A new quarterly leadership-focused lecture series, Exploring and Enhancing Leadership in the Academy, will be launched at the Yale Child Study Center this October. The series has been coordinated by YCSC Assistant Professor Daryn H. David, PhD in collaboration with YCSC Chair Linda Mayes, MD and the center’s Grand Rounds committee.

September 14, 2023
All new YCSC faculty, staff, and trainees are invited to share their bios upon joining the YCSC. Two new community members are introduced this month, Elizabeth Davidson and Adriana Schütz.

September 7, 2023
In the latest edition of a spotlight series launched in February to feature integrated business operations (IBO) and administration staff at the Yale Child Study Center and Department of Psychiatry, meet IBO Associate Director of Faculty Affairs and Staff Administration Michael Wiener.

August 30, 2023
Thomas J. McMahon, PhD, professor emeritus of psychiatry and in the Child Study Center, was one of the 132 fellows elected by the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Board of Directors and Council of Representatives.

September 5, 2023
YCSC Hilibrand Postdoctoral Fellow Jason Griffin, PhD was selected as a recipient of a Suzanne Wright Memorial Research Accelerator Grant from the Autism Science Foundation.

September 7, 2023
Marina Picciotto, PhD, Charles B. G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Center, of Neuroscience and of Pharmacology, has been appointed director of the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, the largest doctoral program in the biological and biomedical sciences at Yale.

Save the Date: Annual Meeting of the Associates

Nov 2023
8
Wednesday
2:00 PM 5:00 PM
Linda Mayes, MD - Amanda Calhoun, MD/MPH - Katarzyna Chawarska, PhD - Carrie Epstein, LCSW - Thomas Fernandez, MD - Alan Gerber, PhD - Eli Lebowitz, PhD - Carla Marin, PhD - James McPartland, PhD - Emily Olfson, MD/PhD - Maggie Stoeckel, PhD - Tara Thompson-Felix, MD - Flora Vaccarino, MD - Areti Vassilopoulos, PhD
News You Can Use

August 23, 2023
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics (JAMA Pediatrics) and led by YCSC Associate Research Scientist David Lewkowicz found a link between screen time in babies and developmental delays in communication, problem-solving, social, personal, and fine motor skills.

August 23, 2023
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced grant support for two university-led programs, including the YCSC Education Collaboratory, led by Assistant Professor Christina Cipriano.

August 30, 2023
In this episode of the People Places Planet Podcast, Senior Research Scientist Suzi Ruhl joins Debbie Sims, David Cash, and Bill Coleman with podcast host Georgia Ray to discuss the evolution of Bridgeport, Connecticut's once-neglected Mount Trashmore into the thriving Mount Growmore agricultural and wellness campus.

September 7, 2023
In a new study, Yale researchers found that some musical themes are universally recognizable by people everywhere. Love songs, however, were harder to pinpoint.

September 7, 2023
Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center have discovered at least two different types of autism. The findings, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, suggest a need for more than just one drug to treat symptoms.

September 8, 2023
A team of researchers from the Yale School of Medicine and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania developed a novel way to assess individuals’ emotion perception ability that diverges from the dominant approaches.

September 9, 2023
YCSC Center for Emotional Intelligence faculty address "Barbie, Pink and Blue, and the Gendering of Emotion."

Upcoming Grand Rounds

Sep 2023
19
Tuesday
1:00 PM 2:00 PM
Evdokia Anagnostou, MD
Oct 2023
3
Tuesday
1:00 PM 2:00 PM
Edith Chen, PhD
Oct 2023
10
Tuesday
1:00 PM 2:00 PM
Speakers are to be announced.
Oct 2023
17
Tuesday
Oct 2023
30
Monday
11:00 AM 12:00 PM
Pamela Sutton-Wallace
In the Media

September 8, 2023
In a study led by YCSC Assistant Professor Adjunct Sam Mehr, participants universally identified dance tunes and lullabies, but struggled with love songs. This may be because love songs can encompass a broad spectrum of emotions, from happiness to jealousy.

September 8, 2023
In this Oxford University podcast episode, YCSC community faculty member Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes joins Oxford Professor Belinda Lennox and other guests to examine how to best help support the mental health of young people.

September 3, 2023
YCSC researchers comment on recent study findings indicating that Autism spectrum disorder may be associated with an imbalance of excitatory neurons in the brain, which could have implications for future treatment options.

August 30, 2023
Senior Research Scientist Suzi Ruhl addresses the evolution of Bridgeport, Connecticut's once-neglected Mount Trashmore into the thriving Mount Growmore in this blog post co-written with Environmental Law Institute Intern Alex Alvarez.

August 21, 2023
One-year-olds exposed to more than four hours of screen time a day experienced developmental delays in communication and problem-solving skills at ages 2 and 4, according to a study published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics.

Recent Publication Reports

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