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Ph.D., University of Zürich, Switzerland, (2004)
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Nadine Gaab is an associate professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work focuses on typical and atypical learning trajectories from infancy to adolescence with a special emphasis on language, reading and literacy development and the role of the environment in shaping these trajectories. Her work is at the intersection of developmental psychology, learning sciences, neuroscience, EdTech, and educational policy within a learning disability framework. Her research laboratory employs longitudinal behavioral and neuroimaging studies to characterize differences in learning as a complex outcome of cumulative risk and protective factors interacting within and across genetic, neurobiological, cognitive, and environmental levels from infancy to adolescence. Her theoretical work focuses on multifactorial frameworks of learning differences with an emphasis on early identification, and 'preventative education'. One important key aspect of her work is the translation of research findings to address contemporary challenges in educational practice and policy.
She is the 2024 recipient of the IMBES Translation Award from the International Society of Mind, Brain, and Education which recognizes senior scholars who have made significant progress towards strengthening the links between research and practice in Mind, Brain, and Education. Furthermore, she is the 2023 recipient of the Academic Research Recognition Award from the World Literacy Foundation and the 2019 recipient of the Learning Disabilities Association America Award for her work on learning disabilities. Furthermore, she has received the Norman Geschwind Memorial lecture in 2020 and the Alice Garside Award in 2017 from the International Dyslexia Association for outstanding leadership in advancing the science and advocacy of dyslexia. She also received the Allan Crocker Award in 2018 from Boston Children’s Hospital for advocacy on behalf of children with reading disabilities and efforts around the passage of the Massachusetts dyslexia screening legislation. She is currently an associate editor for the Journal of Learning Disabilities, Scientific Studies of Reading, Neurobiology of Language, and Developmental Science. She is also the co-founder of EarlyBird Education, a gamified platform system for identifying children at-risk for language-based learning disabilities.
Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability with long-lasting consequences for a childs academic, vocational, and economic future. Dyslexia is commonly not identified until a child has repeatedly failed to learn to read. This delayed diagnosis in late elementary or middle school places the child at an academic disadvantage and often leads to psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety and depression. Research has shown that early identification and intervention can prevent these detrimental outcomes. Furthermore, research has identified early pre-literacy skills that can reliably predict reading outcomes as early as preschool age. This cumulative knowledge strongly suggests that that can be flagged by a pediatrician before school entry, during a period of heightened brain plasticity when interventions are more likely to be effective. Here we propose an implementation study design that will examine processes that can lead to the successful implementation of dyslexia screening in pediatric practices. The proposal will include the identification of barriers and solutions involving pediatric practice stakeholders and community members in various settings. The Gaab Lab will study the use of our pediatric checklist SPROUT-D and identify the multiple implementation processes and approaches needed for US-wide adaptation and potential global use, including the referral process from a checklist to screening tools in various pediatric settings serving a variety of diverse communities. This study approach will inform evidence-based practical strategies for implementing early risk identification in pediatric practice so that physicians can be empowered to treat, educate, and advocate for their patients and families with dyslexia.
Arithmetic and reading are the most fundamental skills acquired during elementary school and are crucial for successful academic achievement, employment prospects, and mental health. Despite the significance of arithmetical and reading skills, many children and adults in developed societies exhibit deficient reading and arithmetical abilities. Accumulating evidence suggests a strong neurocognitive and genetic link between reading and arithmetic, with high co-occurrence rates of both reading and arithmetical learning difficulties. However, the developmental trajectories of typical and atypical arithmetical and reading skills have been predominantly studied apart and potential shared mechanisms of typical and atypical reading and arithmetic development are unknown. Here, for the first time, we propose a longitudinal investigation that aims to (a) compare typical and atypical developmental trajectories of reading and arithmetic from kindergarten to third grade, (b) characterize similarities, differences, and classification power of neural and cognitive measures to profile the shared mechanisms underlying arithmetic and reading, and (c) determine a set of predictors in kindergarten predicting arithmetic and reading outcome after four years of formal instruction. Employing a longitudinal study design, the proposed project aims to investigate the developmental relationships of reading and arithmetic in the typical and atypical development of arithmetical skills from the beginning of kindergarten to third grade, in 180 children with either a familial risk for arithmetic difficulties (AD), a familial risk for reading difficulties (RD), or without any familial risk for reading or arithmetical difficulties, using functional and structural brain measures and behavioral correlates. Neural correlates of arithmetic, reading, and related subskills, together with a comprehensive psychometric battery measuring reading and arithmetical development and domain-general and domain-specific skills, will be examined four times over four years during critical stages of acquiring literacy and numerical concepts. By targeting children with a family history of AD and RD, and due to the genetic profile overlap of these two conditions, the probability of children exhibiting atypical reading and arithmetic development is increased, which will allow us to study and compare the developmental trajectories of both typical and atypical reading and arithmetical skills. This study has the potential to provide a model for understanding developmental learning disabilities, their underlying mechanisms, and their co-occurrence. The current focus on a reactive, deficit-driven instead of a preventive model in the field of learning disabilities is detrimental for students, as interventions have been proven to be most effective at an earlier age of heightened brain plasticity and because of the implications for mental health in struggling students as a result of the current wait-to-fail approach. Understanding the shared and distinct underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms between typical and atypical arithmetic and reading skills and their precursors will be of great significance for the development of early screening, diagnostic, and intervention tools.
Dr. Nadine Gaab will collect and ship the genetic samples from infants enrolled in her ongoing neuroimaging study Examining neural mechanisms of developmental dyslexia from infancy to school-age (R01HD065762) to the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids Michigan for DNA extraction, QC and storage, as well as GWAS genotyping. She will organize the transfer of pediatric brain imaging data to UNC (structural neuroimaging data) and Cedars-Sinai (resting state functional data). She will organize transfer of neurocognitive and behavioral data, demographic information, and data on certain environmental exposures to the primary study site (Michigan State University). Regular telephone and Video conference meetings will ensure that the work will be performed according to the needs of the project. Specifically, the proposed work includes a) Sample collection; b) Data transfer c) Data interpretation and d) manuscript preparation.
Associate Professor Nadine Gaab on how earlier intervention can be the ultimate game-changer when it comes to identifying children with dyslexia and other learning differences
A new study emphasizes the importance of the first year of life for long term language and literacy development