About Us | Child and Family Blog

About Us

We report on important and high-quality research on how family influences child development, both social/emotional and cognitive. We write for parents, practitioners and policy makers.

We are developing new ways to communicate child development knowledge to parents in diverse communities across the world. We have formed a partnership with the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH), which has a huge global network of practitioners working within communities. We are building topic-specific global networks of researchers and practitioners from different cultures, to learn together about child development in a culturally diverse context and to support projects within individual communities to interpret and communicate the research to parents. The project is starting with a global survey on what topics of child development to build the first global networks around.

This project is owned by the not-for-profit Child and Family Blog Corporation in Maryland, USA. It is financed and directed by an Academic Council.

The Child & Family Blog story

We started in 2015 as a project with Jacobs Foundation and University of Cambridge, to explain recent research findings to lay audience of parents, practitioners and policy makers.

With nearly 400 articles so far, the website currently receives 25,000 visitors each month and growing. Most visitors discover the blog as they search for information about child development topics on an internet search engine (i.e., Google).

In 2021, the Blog moved out of the Jacobs Foundation into a purpose-built not-for-profit organisation in the USA, Child & Family Blog Corporation. Thirty leading child development academics came together to fund the Blog and participate in a newly established Academic Council. In its first year, this Council helped to devise projects that will utilize the website as a foundation for transmitting scientific knowledge and a vehicle for extending this communication beyond just the internet.

Academic Council (Funders)

The Academic Council develops new communication ideas for the Child & Family Blog. It has working groups on fatherhood, adolescence, early learning, and family law. The Council also funds the core operation of the Blog, each member contributing $100/month.

Tanya Broesch Simon Fraser University, Canada
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn Colombia University, USA
Natasha Cabrera University of Maryland, USA
Jeremy Carpendale Simon Fraser University, Canada
Xinyin Chen University of Pennsylvania, USA
Jason Downer & Robert Pianta University of Virginia, USA
Duncan Fisher Blog Manager, working from Wales, UK
Hiram Fitzgerald Michigan State University, USA
Lisa Gennetian Duke University Center for Child and Family Policy, USA
Lee Gettler University of Notre Dame, USA
Paul Golding Santa Fe Boys Educational Foundation
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff University of Delaware
Philip Hwang University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Michael E. Lamb University of Cambridge, UK/USA
Barry Lester Brown University, USA
Allyssa McCabe UMass Lowell, USA
Amanda Morris Oklahoma State University, USA
Candice Odgers University of California Irvine, USA
Joy Osofsky Louisiana State University, USA
Jaipaul Roopnarine Syracuse University, USA
Marinus van IJZendoorn Erasmus University, Netherlands @ UCL London, UK
Liza Ware Viterbo University, USA
Family Initiative Charity that formerly managed Child & Family Blog, UK

Executive Team

Anne Bridgman Copy Editor
Duncan Fisher Operational Manager
Miriam Fisher Website Administrator
Liza Ware Managing Editor

Directors, Child and Family Blog Corp (USA)

Tanya Broesch Simon Fraser University, Canada
Natasha Cabrera University of Maryland, USA
Hiram Fitzgerald Michigan State University, USA
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff University of Delaware
Michael E. Lamb University of Cambridge, UK/USA
Amanda Morris Oklahoma State University, USA

Supporters (Formally members of the Scientists' Alliance for communicating child development research)

Adam Boyette
Alyssa Meuwissen
Amanda Cooklin
Amanda Tarullo
Amanda Zelechoski
Amy Holtzworth-Munroe
Angeline Lillard
Anna Gassman-Pines
Anna Johnson
Anne Shaffer
Annemarie H. Hindman
Barbara L. Wolfe
Bonnie Leadbeater
Brenda Jones-Harden
Caitlin McPherran Lombardi
Camelia E. Hostinar
Carlo Schuengel
Carolyn Pape Cowan
Catherine Tamis-LeMonda
Charlie Lewis
Christopher Trentacosta
Chrystyna Kouros
Cristine Legare
Deborah Lowe Vandell
Deirdre Brown
Diane Lickenbrock
Donna Berthelsen
Dorsa Amir
Douglas H. Clements
Douglas M. Teti
Drew Rothenberg
Eddie Brummelman
Elena Nicoladis
Elizabeth Riina
Emma Sciberras
Enrique B. Arranz-Freijo
Felix Warneken
George P. Knight
George W. Holden
Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Iheoma Iruka
Irwin N. Sandler
Jamie Hanson
Jamie Jirout
Jan Nicholson
Janeen Baxter
Jelena Obradovic
Jenalee Doom
Jennifer E. Lansford
Jody Nicholson
Kate C. Prickett
Kate Williams
Katelyn Fletcher
Kathryn Humphreys
Kathryn Modecki
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Kenneth A Dodge
Kimberly Noble
Laura Di Giunta
Laurie Bayet
Lisa M. Gatzke-Kopp
Liz Gershoff
Luke Hyde
Lyndall Strazdins
Marcia J. Carlson
Marcia Winter
Margaret OBrien
Margaret Sheridan
Marije L. Verhage
Mary Gauvain
Matthijs Kalmijn
Naomi Ekas
Natalie Brito
Pasco Fearon
Paula Fomby
Philip A. Cowan
Richard A. Warshak
Rob Palkowitz
Robert J. Duncan
Robert Serpell
Ross D. Parke
Sabina Pauen
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Seth Pollak
Sharlene A. Wolchik
Sharon Wolf
Shawna J. Lee
Sheina Lew-Levy
Sheri Madigan
Stephen Braren
Suniya S. Luthar
Susan Engel
Susan Golombok
Vaheshta Sethna
Vanessa LoBue
Wendy S. Grolnick
William Fabricius
Xutong Zhang
Yalda Uhls
Yossi Shavit