Postdoctoral Training Program In
Developmental Disabilities Research
Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin - Madison
- About the Program
- Training
- How to Apply
- About the Waisman Center
- Current Postdocs
- Program Faculty
- Advisory Committee
- Acknowledgements
Research began in 1995 with funding from NICHD and the Waisman Center. The program provides multidisciplinary training in social, behavioral, and biobehavioral research on developmental disabilities. The emphasis of the program is on understanding social, affective, communicative, and family processes as they relate to developmental disabilities.
The program includes a set of experiences common to all fellows, but is individualized to meet the needs, interests, and professional goals of individual fellows. Each fellow completes a program of research training and a core curriculum. Research training includes: Planning and conducting independent research Collaborating with program faculty on research Participating in regular research meetings with mentors The core curriculum includes: Seminars on biobehavioral research, theory, and methods in developmental disabilities and human development Seminars on research design and data analysis Seminars on race, ethnicity, and culture Seminars on research ethics Seminars on professional development, including obtaining extramural research funding.
Applicants should provide the following:
1. Application Form
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Letters of Recommendation (3)
4. Dissertation - a summary or abstract
5. A Personal Statement
6. Publications / Papers (3)
FORMAT:
Submitted application materials can be print, electronic, or both.
SUBMIT PRINT MATERIALS TO:
Marsha Mailick Seltzer, PhD
Waisman Center-Rm. T201
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1500 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53705-2280
Email mseltzer@waisman.wisc.edu
SUBMIT ELECTRONIC MATERIALS TO:
Marsha Mailick Seltzer, PhD
Email mseltzer@waisman.wisc.edu
The training program is located at the Waisman Center is fully integrated into its scientific activities. The Waisman Center is home to one of the original Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRC) funded by NICHD since 1973. The IDDRC supports the research efforts of more than 50 behavioral and biomedical scientists from 25 academic departments at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Current fellows and their graduate programs:
- Matt Maenner, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Katherine Shannon, PhD, University of Washington
- Brittany Travers, PhD, University of Alabama
- Jen Wong, PhD, Pennsylvania State University
Previous fellows have gone on to faculty positions at Boston University, Brandeis University, Penn State University, Portland State University, University of Georgia, University of Minnesota, University of New Mexico, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, and Washington University in St. Louis.
Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Ph.D. Vaughan Bascom and Elizabeth M. Boggs Professor & Director of the Waisman Center (Program Director).
Families of persons with developmental disabilities, including autism, fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome; life course development of individuals and families; epidemiology of neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Andrew Alexander, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medical Physics and Psychiatry.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging in adolescents including adolescents with autism.
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry.
Cortical and subcortical substrates of emotion and affective disorders, including anxiety, depression, and autism.
Maureen Durkin, Ph.D., Dr.PH., Professor, Population Health Sciences and Pediatrics.
Epidemiology of developmental disabilities including cross-cultural variation.
Jan Edwards, Ph.D., Communicative Disorders
Interactions between phonological and lexical acquisition
H. Hill Goldsmith, Ph.D., Fluno Bascom Professor of Psychology
Emotional development during infancy and early childhood; the nature of developmental transitions.
Jan S. Greenberg, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work
Family caregiving in later life; aging parents caring for an adult child with mental illness.
Katherine Hustad, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Communicative Disorders
Cerebral palsy and augmentative communication
Ruth Litovsky, Ph.D., Professor, Communicative Disorders
Binaural hearing, cochlear implants and speech development.
Julie Poehlmann, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Human Development and Family Studies
Developmental psychopathology; social, emotional and cognitive development in high risk infants, young children, and their families.
Seth D. Pollak, Ph.D., College of Letters and Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Anthropology, and Pediatrics
Developmental psychopathology; neurophysiological mechanisms of emotional development; childhood affective disorders.
Jenny Saffran, Ph.D., College of Letters and Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology
Infant learning of language and music
Susan Ellis Weismer, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, College of Letters and Science, and Professor of Communicative Disorders
Children with autism; late-talking children; children with specific language impairment who have developmental delays in language but normal-range cognitive abilities.
Whitney Witt, Ph.D., M.PH, Assistant Professor of Population Health Sciences
Impact of acute, chronic and terminal illness on families
- Jacob Burack, Ph.D., McGill University
- Guinevere Eden, Ph.D., Georgetown University
- Frank Floyd, Ph.D., Georgia State University
- Randi Hagerman, M.D., University of California Davis
- Catherine Lord, Ph.D., University of Michigan
- Bruce Tomblin, Ph.D., University of Iowa
- Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., Boston University
- Yolanda Keller-Bell, Ph.D., University of Georgia
This program is supported by NICHD grant T32 HD07489, with additional funding from the Waisman Center & The Friends of the Waisman Center.
