Sanford School’s Dodge elected to NAM

<p>Kenneth Dodge, founder of the Center for Child and Family Policy, is the third Sanford faculty member elected to NAM.</p>

Kenneth Dodge, founder of the Center for Child and Family Policy, is the third Sanford faculty member elected to NAM.

Kenneth Dodge, William McDougall professor and founding director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, was elected to membership in the National Academy of Medicine Monday.

NAM, previously known as the Institute of Medicine until this summer, is a non-governmental organization with more than 2,000 members who are experts in fields including biomedical research, health and medicine. Its members seek to advise and inform the federal government and the public by providing analysis of pertinent issues. Each year up to 70 regular members and 10 international members are nominated and elected by current members. Dodge, whose work centers on the understanding and prevention of chronic violent behavior in adolescents and children, is now the third faculty member of the Sanford School of Public Policy to be elected to NAM, along with Dean of Sanford Kelly Brownell and Philip Cook, ITT/Terry Sanford professor of public policy.

“I hold them in very high regard, so to be in the same group as them is an honor,” Dodge said. “And membership is not only honorific, but also brings this expectation that a member will serve on national committees to advise the government on specific topics. The opportunity to do that is something I’m looking forward to.”

Dodge said he was thrilled to learn of his election several weeks ago after receiving a letter from Dr. Victor Dzau, current president of NAM and former president and CEO of the Duke University Health System.

"[His election] signifies outstanding scholarship and scientific leadership—a very small percentage of scientists get nominated and even fewer get elected,” Brownell said. “The center he directs is already nationally known for its leadership on important policies affecting the lives of children, and this will bring even more attention to the work of the center.”

The Center for Child and Family Policy was founded in 1999 under the leadership of Dodge, who was trained as a clinical and developmental psychologist. The center conducts research on issues such as infant development, education reform, substance abuse and adolescent risks. One of its aims is to translate that science into policy, noted Rick Hoyle, associate director of the Center for Child and Family Policy.

“Our goal is to do rigorous research that has the potential for application, and get the word out about that research and get it into the hands of policymakers—which is easier said than done,” he said. “Ken has been a role model for how you publish top-level research and at the same time translate and disseminate those findings so it informs public policy.”

Policy implementation often lags behind modern scientific research about child development, Dodge said, adding that he hopes he can use his position as a NAM member to help push the process along.

He described several of the most pressing issues that require federal investment—violence prevention in children who grow up chronically violent and often become criminals, preventing child abuse and maltreatment in the first several years of life and enhancing school learning and literacy during preschool years.

“We know how to tackle these problems. It’s a challenge convincing the public and elected officials that we know what to do, and that we have investment opportunities,” Dodge said. “By serving on committees of NAM, I hope to apply that science to practical policy solutions that will enhance children’s development. That’s what’s exciting to me about this—to be able serve on those committees and be a part of that process.

Of the many projects he has been involved in, Dodge said he is particularly proud of Durham Connects—a program that provides parents of newborn babies with home visits by nurses to offer parenting resources and to prevent cases of neglect. Dodge said he believes the program is having a real impact on the Durham community.

Hoyle also pointed to the Fast Track project, which aids social and behavioral development in high-risk children, as an example of Dodge’s ability to foster collaboration between people from different institutions and fields.

“He is a remarkable scholar,” he said. “He not only does excellent work in his own right, but he’s very good at bringing together like-minded people to collaborate—to do better research than any of them could do alone. It may be his biggest impact is bringing groups together.”

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