Waisman Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Initiated in 1995 with funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Waisman Center, this program provides interdisciplinary post-doctoral training in social and behavioral research on developmental disabilities. The program emphasizes developmental approaches to understanding change in the social, psychological, and communicative behavior of persons with developmental disabilities and in the functioning of their families.
Post-doctoral fellows should come to the program with research experience and a Ph.D. (or equivalent degree) in a discipline related to human behavior and development (e.g., communicative disorders, educational psychology, human development, psychology, social work, sociology). Fellows must be committed to developing a program of research focused on mental retardation or related developmental disabilities.
The program is intended for new Ph.D.s and for junior faculty who wish to establish programs of research in developmental disabilities. Fellowships are for two years, pending satisfactory progress. The program has a general structure, or set of experiences and expectations common to all fellows, but is individualized to meet the particular needs, interests, and professional goals of individual fellows. Each fellow will work with a primary mentor and a mentor committee to develop a set of goals for the fellowship period and a plan to meet those goals. The mentor committee also will monitor the fellow's progress in the program. Each fellow will complete a program of research training and a core curriculum.
The program of research training includes: (1) the design, implementation, and analysis of an independent empirical study; and (2) participation in a collaborative research project with one or more of the program faculty. These experiences will culminate in several products, including presentations at scientific conferences, publications in appropriate scientific outlets, and an application for extramural support of a line of research.
The core curriculum includes:
The Waisman Center is home to one of the original Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRC), funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development since 1973. The IDDRC supports the research efforts of about 40 behavioral and biomedical scientists from 14 academic departments at the UW-Madison. These scientists are responsible for funded research projects totaling more than $10 million per year.
The Waisman Center also is home to a Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service. The Center for Excellence provides several possible sources of research samples to post-doctoral fellows: a number of clinics serving client populations (e.g., Developmental Disabilities Clinic, Biochemical Genetics Clinic); and an early childhood educational program serving children with and without disabilities. The Waisman Center's Research Participation Core supports the efforts of social and behavioral researchers by assisting in the recruitment and evaluation of special populations, including persons with Down syndrome, fragile X, autism, and families with twins.
The Waisman Center offers state-of-the-art research facilities and a building-wide computer network connected to the UW-Madison campus and to national and international links.
Leonard Abbeduto, Ph.D., Educational Psychology
Language and communication development in
persons with developmental disabilities; families of
persons with developmental disabilities; fragile X syndrome; Down syndrome.
Inge Bretherton, Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies
Mother-child attachment in children at risk for
developmental disabilities.
Robin Chapman, Ph.D., Communicative Disorders
Acquisition of language skills in older children
and adolescents with Down syndrome.
Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Psychology
Cortical and subcortical substrates of emotion and affective disorders, including anxiety, depression, and autism.
Maureen Durkin, Ph.D., Population Health Sciences
Epidemiology of developmental disabilities including cross-cultural variation.
Julia Evans, Ph.D., Communicative Disorders
Language and cognitive processing in typically developing children and children with specific language impairment.
Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Ph.D., Psychology
Language processing in typical and atypical populations, including autism.
Maribeth Gettinger, Ph.D., Educational Psychology
The inclusion of young children with developmental
disabilities in mainstreamed pre-school
settings.
H. Hill Goldsmith, Ph.D., Psychology
Emotional development during infancy and
early childhood; the nature of developmental
transitions.
Jan S. Greenberg, Ph.D., Social Work
Family caregiving in later life; aging parents
caring for an adult child with mental illness.
Charles Kalish, Ph.D., Educational Psychology
The development of inductive inference and
causal reasoning, particularly children's developing
appreciation of the differences between
natural and intentional phenomena.
Raymond Kent, Ph.D., Communicative Disorders
The evaluation of speech intelligibility and quality
in persons with speech motor disorders.
Lewis Leavitt, M.D., Pediatrics
Early parent-infant communication in typical and
atypical populations.
Sandra Magaña, Ph.D., Social Work
Latino families of persons with developmental
disabilities and serious mental illness; families of
color and caregiving across the life course and
different disability groups.
Jon Miller, Ph.D., Communicative Disorders
Acquisition of language skills in young children
with Down syndrome.
Julie Poehlmann, Ph.D., 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., Psychology
Developmental psychopathology;
neurophysiological mechanisms of emotional
development; childhood affective disorders.
Arthur J. Reynolds, Ph.D., Social Work
Identifying the optimal timing and duration of
early intervention for children at risk.
Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Ph.D., Social Work
Families of persons with developmental disabilities,
including autism; life course development of
individuals and families.
Kristi Slack Shook, Ph.D., Social Work
Etiology of child physical neglect, especially environmental and caregiving factors.
Deborah Lowe Vandell, Ph.D., Educational Psychology
The effects of non-parental childcare on the
development of typically and atypically
developing children.
Susan Ellis Weismer, Ph.D., Communicative Disorders
Children with specific language impairment who
have developmental delays in language but
normal-range cognitive abilities.
Donald Bailey, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
John Borkowski, Ph.D.
University of Notre Dame
Jacob Burack, Ph.D.
McGill University
Frank Floyd, Ph.D.
Georgia State University
Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Ph.D.
Brandeis University
Catherine Lord, Ph.D.
University of Chicago
Sharon Ramey, Ph.D.
Georgetown University
Donald Routh, Ph.D.
University of Miami
Stephen Schroeder, Ph.D.
University of Kansas
Travis Thompson, Ph.D.
University of Kansas
Steven Warren, Ph.D.
University of Kansas
Keith Widaman, Ph.D.
University of California-Davis
e-mail:
abbeduto@waisman.wisc.edu
Fax:
608-263-7710
Women and members of under-represented minorities are especially encouraged to apply.
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Last Updated 7-January-2003 by rowley@waisman.wisc.edu
Waisman Center ~ 1500 Highland Avenue ~ Madison, WI 53705-2280
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