The Relationship of Genes, Environments, and Developmental Language Disorders: Part II - Planning for the Future

Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, AZ

September 11-13, 2003

This was the second conference on "The Relationship of Genes, Environments and Developmental Language Disorders." The group first met in May 2002.

In September 2003, they completed a book manuscript and reconvened in Tempe, Arizona to discuss future directions for research. The book was published by Lawrence Erlbaum in May 2004: Developmental Language Disorders: From Phenotypes to Etiologies. Mabel L. Rice and Steven F. Warren are the editors.

Simon Fisher gave the keynote address on "Dissection of Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Speech and Language Disorders." Dr. Fisher is a Royal Society Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University. He is part of the research team that discovered the FOXP2 gene as the location for a significant speech and language disorder in a British family.

The National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NIH) co-sponsored this 2003 conference with the Merrill Advanced Studies Center. Peggy McCardle and Lisa Freund represented NICHD at the conference.

Pictured below, standing, left to right: Catherine Lord, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Carolyn Mervis, Shelley Smith, Andrea Zukowski, Robert Barnhill, Colin Phillips, Ralph-Axel Mueller, Don Bailey, Lisa Freund, Colleen Morris, and Joy Simpson. Seated: Simon Fisher, Judith Cooper, Peggy McCardle, Mabel Rice, Richard Schiefelbusch, Steven Warren, Cathleen Petree, and Len Abbeduto.

Resource

Pictured standing, left to right: Catherine Lord, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Carolyn Mervis, Shelley Smith, Andrea Zukowski, Robert Barnhill, Colin Phillips, Ralph-Axel Mueller, Don Bailey, Lisa Freund, Colleen Morris, and Joy Simpson. Seated: Simon Fisher, Judith Cooper, Peggy McCardle, Mabel Rice, Richard Schiefelbusch, Steven Warren, Cathleen Petree, and Len Abbeduto

Conference Participants

Conference Directors

  • Mabel Rice, Director of the Merrill Center, University of Kansas
  • Steven Warren, Director, Life Span Institute, University of Kansas

Participants

  • Leonard Abbeduto, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin at Madison
  • Don Bailey, Frank Graham Child Development Center, University of North Carolina
  • Judith Cooper, Chief, Scientific Programs branch, NIDCD
  • Simon Fisher, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford University
  • Lisa Freund, Child Development Branch, Developmental Psychobiology & Cognitive Neuroscience, NICHD
  • Catherine Lord, Autism and Communication Disorders Center, University of Michigan
  • Peggy McCardle, Associate Branch Chief, Child Development & Behavior Branch, NICHD
  • Carolyn Mervis, Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Louisville
  • Colleen Morris, Pediatrics - Genetics Division, University of Nevada Medical School
  • Ralph-Axel Mueller, Psychology, San Diego State University
  • Cathleen Petree, Sponsoring Editor of Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Language Development, Acquisition Speech, Language, Hearing Disorders at Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Publishers
  • Colin Phillips, Linguistics, University of Maryland
  • Shelley Smith, Monroe Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center
  • Helen Tager-Flusberg, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine
  • J. Bruce Tomblin, Speech Pathology & Audiology, University of Iowa
  • Andrea Zukowski, Linguistics, University of Maryland

Merrill Board of Directors

  • Robert Barnhill, President, Center for Research, University of Kansas
  • Richard Schiefelbusch, Director Emeritus, Merrill Center and the Life Span Institute

Agenda

Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, AZ

September 11-13, 2003

Thursday, September 11

Reception

Dinner

Opening Session and Welcome

  • Mabel Rice, Director of the Merrill Center
  • Peggy McCardle, Associate Branch Chief, NICHD – NIH Child Development and Behavior Branch

Preview of the Conference and Planning for the Workshop

  • Steven Warren, Director of the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies

Social Hour

Friday, September 12

Breakfast

Keynote Address

  • Simon Fisher, Royal Society Research Fellow, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford University
  • Discussion

Break

Overview Sessions

Lunch

Workshop Round 1: Break-out Sessions

Discussion

Break

Workshop Round 2: Break-out Sessions

Discussion

Work Session to Prepare for Saturday Discussions

Dinner

Saturday, September 13

Breakfast

Concluding Session: Summary of the Previous Day

Workshop Round 3: Break-out Sessions

Break

Discussion

Reactions

  • Peggy McCardle, Associate Branch Chief – NICHD
  • Lisa Freund, Child Development and Behavior Branch – NICHD
  • Judith Cooper, Chief, Scientific Programs Branch – NIDCD

Discussion of the Next Steps

Lunch