News
Workshop series designed to boost health of Native American children
Native American parents of young children are invited to a workshop Tuesday, April 2, in Mayetta to help foster the health and development of Native American children from local tribal communities. The program is part of a partnership between University of Kansas researchers and area urban and rural Native American...
Project to pilot tools to meet STEM learning goals in California classrooms
LAWRENCE — Just as the tools of the classroom have changed from slates and blackboards to tablets and computers, so, too, have the learning goals changed. ...
KU researchers to develop virtual reality to improve social competencies for students with disabilities
Students with disabilities often do not learn social skills or pick up on social cues at the same pace as their peers. The Office of Special Education and Programs in the United States Department of Education granted KU researchers $2.5 million for a five-year program to implement VR that delivers...
'Hope 22' exhibition examines mental health in the military
Beginning Nov. 10, the Spencer Museum of Art will host the exhibition “Hope 22,” which features 22 portraits of veterans and active duty personnel accompanied by written accounts of their experiences with the military and mental health. The traveling exhibition, co-sponsored at the University of Kansas by the Lt. Gen. ...
Largest study of its kind gauges community efforts to combat childhood obesity, a key risk factor for later chronic disease
SWIFT Education Center lands $17M grant to train principals, boost school achievement
KU center part of $27M grant to boost literacy for struggling Kansas readers
LAWRENCE — The Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas has been selected to be part of a $27 million federal grant to help schools across the state boost language and literacy skills for struggling readers. ...
$2 million gift establishes addictions research center at KU
LAWRENCE — The opioid crisis has brought heightened attention to the effects of addiction on individuals, families and communities. As health practitioners, politicians and families grapple with solutions, the University of Kansas is establishing a new resource in the region to better understand and treat addiction in its many forms. ...
Research hones interventions for kids with developmental language disorder
LAWRENCE — In an average kindergarten class of 30 students, about two are experiencing developmental language disorder, meaning they learn language more slowly than their peers. While DLD is just as common as dyslexia or ADHD, fewer people have heard of the disorder, and less research and funding go into...
Six were honored by the Friends of the Life Span Institute
Six recipients were honored at this year’s Friends of the Life Span Institute dinner celebration: two graduate research assistants, and for the first time three investigators and one LSI staff member. Announced in the fall of 2017, the awardees were officially recognized in Friday, April 27, 2018. ...
Researchers link dietary supplement DHA to higher fat-free body mass in children
LAWRENCE — University of Kansas researchers have reported that pregnant women who consumed a supplement of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), a nutrient added to U.S. infant formulas since 2002, tend to have children with higher fat-free body mass at 5 years old. ...
Program giving teachers innovative ways to increase students with disabilities' inclusion in general ed classrooms
Studies show tool can identify individual needs, supports to help youths with autism, intellectual disabilities
LAWRENCE — To better serve families, University of Kansas researchers are examining the use of standardized assessments of support needs for children with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. Two recently published studies demonstrated that the Supports Intensity Scale-Children’s version — a standardized, norm-referenced measure of support needs originally...
Health for the 21st Century Summit
More than 120 people attended the Health for the 21st Century Summit hosted at the University of Kansas on January 16, 2018. ...
Amid shifting demographics, researchers strive to boost well-being for Wyandotte County with community health plan
LAWRENCE — A team of public health researchers is finalizing a communitywide health plan for Wyandotte County, the county that encompasses Kansas City, Kansas. The University of Kansas Center for Community Health and Development began a comprehensive yearlong research process in November 2016 that involved stakeholders and policymakers from across...
Study shows interventions, though few, can be effective for students with high-functioning autism
Across the country, more and more young people are being diagnosed as with autism spectrum disorder, including those with high-functioning autism. Yet there is little research into how to help educators serve students with high-functioning autism, especially adolescents in middle and high school settings. New research from the University of...
Study shows people with mental health conditions more likely to have coverage and access under Affordable Care Act
Individuals with mental illnesses were more likely to have health insurance and be able to access health care and mental health services after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to new research. The gains were present both in states that had expanded Medicaid coverage and those that did...
KU grant to examine comprehensive approach to preventing youth violence in KC
The University of Kansas has been awarded a four-year, $1.7 million U.S. Health & Human Services grant that will examine the effect of the combined support of multiple organizations and agencies on youth violence in Kansas City, Kansas. ...
University community mourns death of former Life Span Institute director Stephen R. Schroeder
The University of Kansas community is mourning the death of Stephen R. Schroeder, emeritus professor of applied behavioral science. ...
KanCare enrollees with mental illness report gaps in Medicaid managed care program
A recent study of Kansans with serious mental illness enrolled in KanCare, the state Medicaid managed care program, revealed many significant unmet needs and barriers to care. ...
$2.3M grant to fund new direction in autism spectrum disorders research at KU
While much research has been devoted to the social and communication issues that define autism spectrum disorders (ASD), much less is known about motor deficits that affect the majority of, if not all, individuals with ASD. These include not only repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping and rocking, but also...
Colombo to lead Office of Research
Professor John Colombo, director of the University of Kansas Life Span Institute, will serve as interim vice chancellor of research at the University of Kansas, effective August 8, 2017. ...
Book reading to treat a language impairment
A clinical trial of book reading to help kindergarten children with Specific Language Impairment learn words has determined the number of times a child with SLI needs to hear a word to learn it. That would be 36 times or “exposures” compared to 12 times for typically developing children. ...
Redefining inclusion across the nation
The aptly named SWIFT Education Center (Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation), funded by one of the largest grants in KU history of $24 million, has rapidly hit its goals since it was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in October 2012. Now the center...
The University of Kansas Medical Center honors four faculty as University Distinguished Professors
The University of Kansas Medical Center has named four long-time faculty members University Distinguished Professors, which is an honor reserved for faculty who have made significant and sustained contributions to research, scholarship and teaching at the medical center. ...
Brendan M. Lynch
LAWRENCE — A new, wide-ranging review of available research shows parents and caregivers can improve health outcomes for kids by using mobile-phone apps and text messaging. ...
Nutritional supplement could prevent thousands of early preterm births
The Power of Parenting
Beginning in 1995 with the seminal study of vocabulary development by Betty Hart and Todd Risley that revealed a 30 million word gap in what children from the least and more advantaged homes heard by age 3, Life Span Institute researchers have investigated the power of parenting. Most recently, researchers...