Scientific knowledge is now shedding light on matters that were once considered beyond the reach of biological inquiry. This includes many issues related to the care and nurturing of children, from infancy to adolescence. The Parents & Science initiative—launched in 2007 by The Rockefeller University—is a unique resource for New York area parents who are interested in learning more about how scientific research is transforming our understanding of childhood health and behavior.
Each year, Parents & Science
sponsors lectures that showcase important science related to child and
adolescent health and development. These multidisciplinary programs
bring together Rockefeller's distinguished scientists with eminent
psychologists, social scientists, clinicians, and medical practitioners.
Learn more about Rockefeller scientists who are engaged in research related to child and adolescent health
Register to be on our mailing list and to RSVP for events online.
Upcoming Events
Winter Evening Program
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Science 101 For Parents
The Biology of Sensory Perception:
How Children Discover the World
Featuring:
A. James Hudspeth,M.D., Ph.D.
F. M. Kirby Professor
Laboratory of Sensory Neuroscience
The Rockefeller University
Rockefeller News
December 1, 2011
The story of a group of high school students who, with the help of a Rockefeller University researcher, conducted and published studies on the biological provenance of sushi and teas from around New York City.
November 9, 2011
The new science of babies and brains—and how it could revolutionize the fight against poverty. P&S Faculty Advisor, Bruce McEwen, is quoted.
November 3, 2011 |campus news
University joins 10 leading medical and research institutions to form New York Genome Center
The New York Genome Center, which will become one of the largest genomic facilities in North America, will begin operations as early as spring 2012 in its 120,000 square foot Manhattan facility
October 24, 2011
Can humanity handle the unprecedented rise in population? In this op-ed pieceRockefeller professor, Dr. Joel E. Cohen, calls for global investments in children, stressing the importance of pre-natal and early childhood care as well as access to good nutrition.
October 17, 2011 |&honors and awards
Marc Tessier-Lavigne elected to Institute of Medicine
A
world leader in the study of brain development, Tessier-Lavigne has
pioneered the identification of the molecules that direct the formation
of connections among nerve cells to establish neuronal circuits in the
mammalian brain and spinal cord. Tessier-Lavigne is among 65 new members
and five foreign associates elected to the Institute this year.
October 3, 2011 |&honors and awards
Rockefeller University scientist Ralph Steinman, honored today with Nobel Prize for discovery of dendritic cells, dies at 68
Rockefeller
University cell biologist Ralph M. Steinman, who discovered the immune
system's sentinel dendritic cells and demonstrated that science can
fruitfully harness the power of these cells and other components of the
immune system to curb infections and other communicable diseases, is
this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine, the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, announced today. He
shares half the prize with Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann.
September 20, 2011 | gifts and grants
Papavasiliou and Stavropoulos receive “transformative” NIH grant
Across
town at the Rockefeller University, the new science facility, by
Mitchell/Giurgola Architects, exists for no other purpose than to bring
people out of isolation. It’s an addendum, a voluptuous glass
link, seven stories high, interposed between two preexisting laboratory
buildings. You enter what appears to be a modest lobby, and ahead of you
the space opens up, Guggenheim-like, into an atrium whose floorplan is
elliptical and whose side elevation is shaped like an hourglass.
Everything about this unusual building tells you that scientific
research can be conducted in an environment of both zest and dignity
July 22, 2011 | grants and gifts
Rockefeller University receives $36.1 million to help translate science into cures
Rockefeller University’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), a center aimed at accelerating the pace of translating science into real-life solutions for patients, has received $36.1 million from the National Institutes of Health to expand its work over the next five years. The CCTS is among 10 institutes nationwide to receive the renewed funding, in recognition of their successes during the first five years of the NIH’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards program.
July 21, 2011
DNA testing by high school students shows many teas contain unlisted ingredients
Unlisted ingredients identified by DNA barcoding technology include weeds such as annual bluegrass and herbal plants such as chamomile. Though mostly harmless, the surprise ingredients could affect a tiny minority of consumers with acute allergies.
July 5, 2011
Less-Educated Women Have More Children. Or Is It the Other Way Around?
It makes sense that education would impede childbearing. In nearly every country, women with more education tend to have fewer children than less-educated mothers. But new research, led by Rockefeller's Joel Cohen, suggests it may actually work the other way around: having more children hamstrings women's education.
May 18, 2011 | science news
Genes help worms decide where to dine
A
recent study by Rockefeller University researchers identifies natural
variations in several genes that help determine when and where
microscopic C. Elegans
worms feast. The impact of the gene variants on the worms’
foraging behavior was the most significant in borderline decisions, the
researchers says, when the bacteria available to eat were neither scarce
nor plentiful.
May 5, 2011 | honors and awards
Jean-Laurent Casanova honored with Belgium’s highest scientific prize
Jean-Laurent Casanova has received the 2011 InBev-Baillet Latour Health Prize, Belgium's most important scientific prize, for his pioneering work on the identification of genes that predispose for human infectious disease.
May 3, 2011 | honors and awards
Michel C. Nussenzweig elected to National Academy of Sciences
Michel C. Nussenzweig, Sherman Fairchild Professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences at the Academy's annual meeting today, in recognition of his deep contributions to our understanding of the workings of the innate and adaptive immune systems.
April 27, 2011
To tell different wines apart, a good memory is required,’ says Leslie Vosshall,
a professor at Rockefeller University. ‘It would be like
going to a museum where someone shows you 10 paintings and then you have
to express some preference about them. It would help if you could say,
well in the first painting, I really liked the way the skirts were
painted, and in the second, the facial expressions were really good.
April 25, 2011 | science news
Anti-inflammatory drugs reduce effectiveness of SSRI antidepressants
Scientists have shown that anti-inflammatory drugs, which include ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen, reduce the effectiveness of the most widely used class of antidepressant medications, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, often prescribed for depression and obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders.
April 4, 2011 | science news
Researchers put potent staph killer to the test, hope for new drug treatment
The
ever escalating war between evolving bacteria and antibiotics could be
taking a promising turn in favor of the humans. Scientists have
genetically engineered a powerful killer of one of the most dangerous
bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
It’s been tested on MRSA in the test tube, on infections in
mice and a clinically trial has begun to probe its ability to kill MRSA
infected cells from psoriasis lesions in people. Next up, per the
recommendation of the FDA, is a test in minipigs.
“It’s the start of a new class of drugs,”
says the lead researcher, and early signs suggest it’s
stronger than anything of its kind currently on the market.
March 29, 2011 | honors and awards
Bruce S. McEwen to receive Scolnick Prize for research on brain hormones
Bruce
S. McEwen, a pioneer in understanding how hormones affect the brain,
will receive the 2011 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience from the
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. McEwen is being honored
for research on how hormones affect the brain’s structure, how
they shape responses to stress, how they contribute to sexual
differences and how they affect our health and well-being.
March 25, 2011 | science news
Bullying alters brain chemistry, leads to anxiety
Bruce
S. McEwen, a pioneer in understanding how hormones affect the brain,
will receive the 2011 Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience from the
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. McEwen is being honored
for research on how hormones affect the brain’s structure, how
they shape responses to stress, how they contribute to sexual
differences and how they affect our health and well-being.
March 16, 2011 | campus news
Marc Tessier-Lavigne becomes Rockefeller’s tenth president
Marc
Tessier-Lavigne, a leading neuroscientist and the former chief
scientific officer of Genentech, takes over as president of The
Rockefeller University today, replacing Paul Nurse, who has left to
become president of the Royal Society in London.
January 20, 2011
LHS Senior Daniel Kramer Named Intel Semifinalist
Daniel
Kramer earned a semifinalist spot in prestigious Intel Science Talent
Search science research competition after spending the past summer
conducting research at Rockefeller University under the guidance of Alex
Proekt, a visiting fellow in Donald Pfaff's laboratory.
January 18, 2011 | science news
Research shows when stem cell descendants lose their versatility
The precocious progenitors of every cell in the body — stem cells — have
commitment issues. They must remain unattached to maintain the
versatility they need to respond to injuries, regenerate tissues and do
their other jobs. New research defines the point at which a developing
lineage of hair follicle stem cells do settle down, however, and commit
to their mission to grow new hair. The findings also reflect a new
concept in stem cell biology: that the newly specialized cells send
signals back to the stem cells from which they originated, regulating
their behavior.
January 11, 2011
“Donald Pfaff, a professor at the Rockefeller University, provides some interesting context for the battle of the sexes. His main idea is that the sex differences in our brains and our behavior are caused by X and Y chromosomes, hormones and the environment. For instance, testosterone can trigger male aggression, but a different cocktail of hormones reliably incites females to protect their young — by violent means, if necessary.”
January 10, 2011
“Modern society has resulted in a round-the-clock lifestyle, in which
natural connections between rest-activity cycles and environmental
light-dark cycles have been degraded or even broken,” wrote researchers
led by neuroscientist Bruce McEwen of
Rockefeller University in a Dec. 11 Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences study. “However, the ramifications of chronic disruption of
the circadian clock for mental and physical health are not understood.”
December 29, 2010
“The story of sex determination starts with DNA, since your genes launch you onto a male or female trajectory. But as Donald Pfaff
explains, if for any reason your hormones fail to follow suit, you can
grow up assuming the other gender. Even if your genes and hormones are
in synch, environmental factors can reroute the gender train. ... What’s
more, the process of sex determination is not over by birth, but
continues into life, up to and including puberty. And, when it comes to
humans and sex, variety is infinite.”
November 12, 2010 | campus news
New Rockefeller University lab building opens
The Collaborative Research Center, a 125,000 square foot, $500 million
building designed specifically to help foster scientific collaboration
and encourage interactions between scientists, has opened on
Rockefeller's campus. 
October 14, 2010 | science news
Gene identified that prevents stem cells from turning cancerous
Stem cells have tremendous regenerative power, but their potency can
also be lethal. Now researchers have identified a gene that prevents
stem cells from turning into tumors in mice by regulating the process of
programmed cell death, or apoptosis. The work is the first to show that
interfering with the programmed death of stem cells can have fatal
consequences.
October 11, 2010
“One
of the most striking new buildings to be completed in Manhattan this
year is hidden from public view. On the gated campus of Rockefeller
University between York Avenue and the East River, a renovated research
center includes a new building with a curving, five-story glass facade
that leans forward like the side of an inverted cone. The new glass
building is the centerpiece of the Collaborative Research Center, a $380
million renovation effort that grew out of years of deliberation over
how to modernize the historic university’s research facilities.”
October 11, 2010 | honors and awards
Two Rockefeller scientists elected to Institute of Medicine
Rockefeller University scientists Robert B. Darnell, head of the
Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology, and Titia de Lange, head of the
Laboratory of Cell Biology and Genetics, have been elected to the
Institute of Medicine, the health and medicine branch of the National
Academy of Sciences.
September 21, 2010 | honors and awards
Jeffrey M. Friedman receives Albert Lasker Award for discovery of leptin
This year’s Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the most
prestigious American prize in science, honors Rockefeller University’s
Jeffrey M. Friedman, who discovered leptin, a hormone that regulates
food intake and body weight.
September 9, 2010
“The
No. 2 research official at Genentech will become the next president of
Rockefeller University, in the first departure from the
company’s top scientific ranks since its acquisition by Roche
in March 2009. Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who is executive vice president for
research and the chief scientific officer at Genentech, will become the
first president of Rockefeller University to come from industry,
Russell L. Carson, the chairman of the university’s board of
trustees, said in an interview Wednesday.”
September 8, 2010 | campus news
Marc Tessier-Lavigne named Rockefeller University’s tenth president
The university’s Board of Trustees has elected Tessier-Lavigne to
succeed Paul Nurse on March 11, 2011. A leader in the study of brain
development, he is currently executive vice president for research and
chief scientific officer at Genentech, one the world’s leading biotech
companies.
August 9, 2010 | campus news
Ted Scovell named director of university’s science outreach program
A
former high school teacher himself, Scovell works to give new
generations of young scientists access to the facilities — and
mentors —that can take them well beyond the frogs and
earthworms of their high school classrooms.
July 27, 2010 | science news
Protein found to control the early migration of neurons
Long before our nervous system is able to see, smell, touch, hear or
speak, the earliest neurons that make it up must be precisely guided to
the proper layers in the developing brain. Exactly how this early neuron
migration happens has been elusive, but a better understanding of it
could lead to insight into myriad developmental problems, including
autism and schizophrenia. New research identifies a gene that works
behind-the-scenes to control a closely related adhesion gene that helps
keep young neurons on the right track.
July 2, 2010 | science news
New HIV vaccine trial first to target dendritic cells
HIV has been able to outmaneuver every vaccine that's been tried on the
virus since it was first discovered in 1981. But no vaccine has yet to
directly employ what is arguably the most powerful weapon the human
immune system, the dendritic cells that orchestrate the body's response
to infection. Now that's about to change. Researchers at Rockefeller
University, where dendritic cells were discovered in 1973, are building
on decades worth of research to launch a novel vaccine trial in hopes of
mustering an immune response strong enough to defeat the deadly virus.
It's the first clinical trial of a dendritic cell based vaccine against
infection, and researchers hope it will mark a turning point in the
battle against AIDS.
June 18,
2010 | science news
New research shows how experience shapes the brain’s
circuitry
The adult brain, long considered to be fixed in its wiring, is remarkably dynamic, according to new research by Rockefeller University scientists. The finding explains how the circuitry of a region of the mouse brain called the somatosensory cortex, which processes input from the various systems in the body that respond to the sense of touch, is continually modified by experience.
June 18, 2010 | appointments and promotions
Microbiologist to join Rockefeller faculty
Rockefeller’s newest faculty member is Luciano Marraffini, a
microbiologist who studies how bacterial pathogens modulate the transfer
of foreign DNA into their genomes. His work sheds light on how bacteria
such as Staphylococcus aureus evolve, including how they gain
the ability to resist antibiotic drugs.
May 25, 2010 | honors and awards
Donald W. Pfaff and Bruce S. McEwen will share 2010
Foundation Ipsen Neuronal Plasticity Prize
Donald W. Pfaff and Bruce S. McEwen share the 2010 Foundation Ipsen Neuronal Plasticity Prize for their studies on the neuroendocrine control of behavior. The French foundation presents the award to researchers who publish remarkable, pioneering studies.
May 12, 2010 | grants and gifts
Rockefeller immunologist receives Gates Foundation
Grand Challenges grant
Jean-Laurent Casanova will launch a new project aimed at understanding
how a collection of genetically diverse errors in immunity leads to
susceptibility to tuberculosis in children under 15 years old.
April 23, 2010 | campus news
Paul Nurse to resign as Rockefeller president to become president of Royal Society of London in December Paul Nurse, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist, has served as Rockefeller University’s president since 2003.
April 21, 2010 | honors and awards
Titia de Lange receives AACR Clowes Award
Titia de Lange is the 50th annual recipient of the American Association of Cancer Research's award to an individual with outstanding recent accomplishments in basic cancer research.
March 29, 2010
“Children,
Elaine Fuchs says, have a natural fascination with science. She
remembers that she did. ‘I think like many of the children in
our world, I got interested in science just from having a butterfly net
and from having a few strainers and some boots and going down to the
streams and creeks and being out in the fields,’ says
Fuchs.”
March 27, 2010
“Forget the sweet smell of success. When it comes to scents in the city, New Yorkers rank vanilla as the most pleasant. That’s according to Dr. Leslie Vosshall, who led a five-year study of what smells please or annoy New Yorkers, how we interpret odors and ‘how does smell affect our daily experiences.’ Isovaleric acid — the odor of sweaty socks — has the baddest bouquet, according to New Yorkers who rank it as the least pleasant essence. They also find the smell of buttered popcorn ‘pretty unpleasant,’ Vosshall said.”
March 23, 2010 | books
New book by population biologist asks why we educate children
Rockefeller University’s Joel E. Cohen hopes to launch an international conversation on the rationales for educating children, informed by diverse perspectives on why education should be a goal at all
March 14, 2010
“Why
do some people succumb to whatever illness is going around while other
soldier on, seemingly unaffected? It’s all in the genes.
Research from the Rockefeller University in New York presented at the
Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia annual conference recently
revealed a strong genetic link to a person’s ability to
survive infection. ‘There is solid evidence which shows that
during the course of an infection some people remain asymptomatic, while
others may end up with a life-threatening disease,’ said
pediatrician and immunologist Jean-Laurent Casanova.
‘That is to do with a number of known factors, such as family
background and the population the person is living in. However, now we
have proven the genetic link, too.’”
March 10, 2010 | science news
Scientists track variant of gene-regulating protein in embryonic stem cells
The
path to fully developed cells from embryonic stem cells requires that
the right genes are turned on and off at the right times. New research
from Rockefeller University shows that tiny variations between
gene-regulating histone proteins play an important role in determining
how and when genes are read. The finding shows that each region of the
genome may be even more specialized than previously expected and may
open a new avenue of investigation regarding the mysterious causes of
the human genetic disease known as ATR-X syndrome.
February 22, 2010 | science news
Mouse model reveals a cause of ADHD
New
research in a mouse model of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
suggests that the root of the psychiatric disorder might be the
over-activity of a protein that regulates the brain’s
reward-motivation system. The work suggests a path toward new treatments
for symptoms including inattentiveness, over-activity and impulsivity.
February 9, 2010 | science news
Research identifies gene with likely role in premenstrual disorder
January 27, 2010 | science news
Brain arousal heightens sexual activity in male mice
January 8, 2010 | science news
Loss of epigenetic regulators causes mental retardation
New findings, published in recent issues of Neuron and Science,
indicate that malfunction of a protein complex that normally suppresses
gene activation causes mental retardation in mice and humans and may
even play a role in promoting susceptibility to drug addiction.
December 26, 2009
“Few of Brenda Tan’s classmates at Trinity School in Manhattan understood what she was doing when she went around requesting a single strand of hair from each of them. But after subjecting the hair to DNA testing and research, she was able to repay their trust with a reassuring conclusion. ‘They were all human,’ Ms. Tan said. The test was part of a project that Ms. Tan, 17, and another Trinity student, Matt Cost, 18, conducted with Rockefeller University and the American Museum of Natural History to study DNA barcoding. That process involves identifying species based on a single gene rather than the compete set of genes in a cell or organism.”
November 23, 2009 science news
Acute stress leaves epigenetic marks on the hippocampus
Scientists
are learning that the dynamic regulation of genes — as much
as the genes themselves — shapes the fate of organisms. Now
the discovery of a new epigenetic mechanism regulating genes in the
brain under stress is helping change the way scientists think about
psychiatric disorders and could open new avenues to treatment.
November 3, 2009
“More
new research also confirms the negative effects of changing the timing
of sleep—which happens in jet lag and shift work —
by looking at how this affects mice. Rockefeller University researchers
found that mice which had their biological clocks disrupted by shifts in
exposure to light became more impulsive, were slower to learn a maze
and gained weight after only six to eight weeks of exposure to less
light.”
“A new study presented at the 2009 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience shows how disrupting your sleep cycle can interfere with your health and cognitive function. Researchers from Rockefeller University disrupted the circadian rhythms of mice by exposing them to 10 hours of light followed by 10 hours of darkness. After two months of this, the mice were in need of more than a little nap. They had difficulty learning. They were more impulsive. And they got fat, thanks in part to changes in appetite hormones and metabolism.”
October 7, 2009
“2008 National Medal of Science to Dr. Elaine Fuchs,
The Rockefeller University, for her pioneering use of cell biology and
molecular genetics in mice to understand the basis of inherited diseases
in humans and her outstanding contributions to our understandings of
the biology of skin and its disorders, including her notable
investigations of adult skin stem cells, cancers, and genetic
syndromes.”
October 5, 2009 | science news
Transgenic songbirds provide new tool to understand the brain
Over
the decades, scientists have learned a lot about the basic life
processes shared by many animals — including people
— by manipulating the DNA of the “lower”
species, such as mice and worms. But to date, they have been unable to
readily probe the genetic contribution to one higher cognitive capacity
of particular interest — the ability to learn language from
one another. Now scientists have worked out a method for altering the
genes of the zebra finch, one of the handful of social animals that
learn to “speak” in a way that is analogous to
humans.
September 28, 2009 | honors and awards
Obesity researcher wins Keio Medical Science Prize
Jeffery Friedman shares the 14th Keio Medical Science Prize, awarded annually to researchers for outstanding achievements in the fields of life sciences and medicine, for the "discovery of leptin and the study of its physiological functions.”
September 17, 2009 | honors and awards
Elaine Fuchs receives 2008 National Medal of Science
Elaine Fuchs,
Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, is being honored “for her
pioneering use of cell biology and molecular genetics in mice to
understand the basis of inherited diseases in humans and her outstanding
contributions to our understanding of the biology of skin and its
disorders, including her notable investigations of adult skin stem
cells, cancers and genetic syndromes.”
September 10, 2009
Jeffrey Friedman:
"So if you are thin, it might be more appropriate for you to thank your
own 'lean' genes and refrain from stigmatizing the obese. A broad
acceptance of the biologic basis of obesity would not only be fair and
right, but would also allow us to collectively focus on what is most
important—one's health rather than one's weight."
August 17, 2009
“As
though it weren’t bad enough that chronic stress has been
shown to raise blood pressure, stiffen arteries, suppress the immune
system, heighten the risk of diabetes, depression and
Alzheimer’s disease and make one a very undesirable dinner
companion, now researchers have discovered that the sensation of being
highly stressed can rewire the brain in ways that promote its sinister
persistence. ... According to Bruce S. McEwen,
head of the neuroendocrinology laboratory at Rockefeller University,
the new findings offer a particularly elegant demonstration of a
principle that researchers have just begun to grasp. ‘The
brain is a very resilient and plastic organ,’ he said.
‘Dendrites and synapses retract and reform, and reversible
remodeling can occur throughout life.’”
July 22, 2009 | science news
New imaging studies reveal mechanics of neuron migration
In
the developing brain, generations of young neurons undergo a staged
migration, with the earliest-born cells staying relatively close to
their birthplace and subsequent generations traveling further,
ultimately stratifying into six neuronal layers in the mature brain. For
the first time, imaging studies have identified the
“motors” that propel this unique form of cell
migration, giving insight into the delicate layering of the brain that
underlies the formation of synaptic circuitry.
July 1, 2009 | honors and awards
Michael Young receives Gruber Foundation’s 2009 Neuroscience Prize
Michael W. Young,
Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and head of the Laboratory of
Genetics at Rockefeller University, has received the 2009 Neuroscience
Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation for groundbreaking
discoveries of the molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms
in the nervous system.
June 16, 2009 | honors and awards
Jeffrey Friedman receives Shaw Prize for discovery of leptin
Jeffrey Friedman,
Marilyn M. Simpson Professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular
Genetics at Rockefeller, received the 2009 Shaw Prize in Life Science
and Medicine. He shares the $1 million award, known as the Nobel Prize
of the East, with the Jackson Laboratory's Douglas L. Coleman for their
work leading to the discovery of leptin, a hormone that regulates food
intake and body weight.
June 2, 2009 | science news
Report identifies early childhood conditions that lead to adult health disparities
The
origins of many adult diseases can be traced to early negative
experiences associated with social class and other markers of
disadvantage. Confronting the causes of adversity before and shortly
after birth may be a promising way to improve adult health and reduce
premature deaths, researchers argue in a paper published today in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.
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