The TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health

Behind the vision for Year One

The TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health is an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Chicago that advances a public health approach to preventing early cognitive disparities. The TMW Center was founded and is co-directed by Dr. Dana Suskind, Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago and Dr. John List, Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. 

The Center’s pairing of economic science with early childhood development science makes it uniquely suited to partner with the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics to conceptualize and execute the inaugural year of the Griffin Incubator.

The TMW Center aspires to create a population-level shift in the knowledge and behavior of parents and caregivers to optimize foundational brain development in children. Science has identified parents and caregivers as key contributors to foundational brain development, but most early childhood efforts focus on children rather than the adults in their lives. Recognizing this untapped resource, the TMW Center delivers evidence-based interventions that empower parents and caregivers with knowledge and skills to develop their children’s intellectual and educational potential. These interventions translate emerging brain science into strategies that can be used in everyday settings.

An emphasis on scaling

To reach as many children and families as efficiently and effectively as possible, the TMW Center is committed to developing new approaches to scaling and using rigorous scientific methods to ensure that parent and caregiver interventions yield strong outcomes in the real world. As part of this commitment, the Center is proud to play a leading role in planning and implementing the activities of the 2019-2020 Incubator: The Science of Scaling in Early Childhood.