2017 Program

The 2017 On the Shoulders of Giants Scientific Symposium was held in October 2017 at the Advanced Science Research Center of the City University of New York.

Dr. Kenneth Dodge’s work provides a model for understanding why some young children grow up to engage in aggressive behaviors and provides a framework for intervening early to protect children and their communities from the consequences of violence.  Through his Fast Track program, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, Ken’s team screened almost 10,000 kindergarteners to identify 891 high-risk children, and delivered interventions over a 10-year period, including training in social-emotional skills, academic tutoring and parent training.  The result, by the time the participants reached 26, was a 31% reduction in violent crimes.

In this presentation, Dr. Dodge discussed the implications of this work for preventive programs in schools and clinics and for our understanding of the causes of antisocial behaviors. We also heard from a gifted investigator influenced by Dr. Dodge’s work, Jamie Hanson, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, and another protégé of Dr. Dodge and Dr. Hanson: Idil Yazgan, a junior at Duke University.

Jamie Hanson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Pittsburgh
Advancing Models of Developmental Neurobiology and Learning to Understand the Effect of Early Life Stress

Idil Yazgan
BS Candidate in Psychology
Intern, Gender Violence Prevention, Duke University Women’s Center Duke University
Early Childhood Social and Environmental Risk Factors and Later Criminality:  e potential Mediating Role of Neurocognitive Functioning

Kenneth A. Dodge, PhD
Pritzker Professor of Public Policy
Founder of the Center for Child and Family Policy Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University
2017 Sarah Gund Prize for Research and Mentorship in Child Mental Health
Prevention of Serious Conduct Disorder and Chronic Violence in High-Risk Children