Centre for Child, Adolescent & Family Research Conference
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Our 2026 Conference will be held on Thursday, 14th May - watch this space!
You can read all about our 2025 Conference, below.
Building Blocks of Development: Innovations in Science from Research to Practice.
Wednesday, 21st May 2025, 9am-6pm, Newnham College, Cambridge.
On 21st May, the Centre for Child, Adolescent & Family Research (CAFR) held its first-ever conference, Building Blocks of Development: Innovations in Science from Research to Practice, at Newnham College, Cambridge. The event brought together leading researchers to explore key stages of development—from the prenatal period through adolescence.
The day opened with keynote talks by Professors Gaia Scerif and Paul Ramchandani, highlighting new approaches to supporting attention and early intervention in infancy. In the early childhood sessions, Patty Leijten and Susan Walker spoke on global parenting programmes and systems-level integration. The afternoon focused on adolescence, with Eveline Crone discussing neural development and youth engagement, followed by Essi Viding’s insights into developmental resilience and mental health.
The event closed with a lively roundtable and opportunities for networking over posters and refreshments. The conference highlighted the Centre’s dedication to advancing research-driven approaches that support children and families.
Speakers
‘Pre-natal and infancy’
Talk 1: Supporting babies, toddlers, and young children at high risk: Partnerships and co-creation are key ~ Gaia Scerif, University of Oxford
Abstract
Attention and executive functions are key thinking skills that influence how we interact with our environment, and thereby learn from it. Many babies, toddlers, and young children inherit predispositions or challenging environments that put them at high risk for attention and executive function differences and difficulties. These difficulties can impact everyday life along many meaningful dimensions. Nonetheless, while some children experience persistent challenges, others thrive, at least in part due to supportive adults and environments around them. Today I will detail examples of the variable interplay between executive functions and outcomes for young children who grow up in conditions of high genetic or environmental risk, to begin to answer the question: How can we best support adults (parents, educators) support young children at high risk? Through these examples, I hope to also illustrate what I have learnt about the importance of partnerships and co-creation, as a cognitive scientist working with parents, educators, and community organisations.
Biography
Gaia Scerif is Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the development of attentional control and the neural correlates of attentional differences, exploring how these impact cognitive abilities.
Attention plays a crucial role in learning and behaviour, especially in the classroom, and is particularly relevant for neurodivergent groups. Gaia aims to understand how attentional differences vary across groups, including those with genetic conditions (e.g., fragile X, Down syndrome) and complex behavioural conditions (e.g., ADHD). Her work also considers socio-economic diversity, both in the UK and the Global South, with implications for neuroscience and for families affected by attentional differences.
Talk 2: Making life better for babies, children and families. We can do it, but can we do enough of it? ~ Paul Ramchandani, University of Cambridge
Abstract
The case for early intervention is often thought to be self-evident, and there is good evidence that positive change can be made for young children’s mental health and other areas of development. Yet, progress in the widespread implementation of effective early intervention is slow and challenging. There are multiple reasons for this, and in this talk I want to use examples of specific interventions to discuss some of the hard truths and challenges we face if we are to make effective early intervention a widespread reality.
Biography
Paul Ramchandani is LEGO Professor of Play in Education, Development and Learning at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this he was Professor of Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Imperial College London. He trained initially as a medical doctor, subsequently training in Psychiatry. He continues to work as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in the NHS.
Paul works with a team studying early child development and developing and testing interventions to promote children’s mental health and children’s wider positive development. Paul is a trustee of Foundations, the What Works centre for children and families (previously the Early Intervention Foundation) and is the practitioner review editor for the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
‘Early childhood’
Talk 3: Supporting parents to enhance child well-being across the globe ~ Patty Leijten, University of Amsterdam
Abstract
Parenting programs are disseminated across the globe to reduce violence against children and to support children’s socioemotional development and well-being. What do we know about the effectiveness of these programs? In this talk, I will discuss the promise and boundary conditions of parenting programs, when parenting programs are most likely to be successful, and what we can learn from parenting program research about parenting and child development. I will answer both applied questions about parenting programs (e.g., can paraprofessionals and technology replace professional delivery? Are parenting programs inequity generating?) and strive to inspire research that is more precise in contributing to our understanding of how parents can successfully enhance the well-being of children across the globe.
Biography
Patty Leijten is an Associate Professor at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education of the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). She studies how we can effectively support parents to enhance children's mental health and well-being.
She uses rigorous basic research designs to discern the active ingredients of effective parenting support and creative intervention designs (e.g., microtrials and factorial experiments) to refine theory on how parents shape children’s development. In doing so, she breaks with the tradition to evaluate ‘package-deal’ parenting programs and creates blueprints for processes that contribute to effective parenting support programs.
Talk 4: Integrating the Reach Up early childhood parenting program into government systems ~ Susan Walker (Online), University of the West Indies
Abstract
The Reach Up early childhood parenting program was developed to increase capacity for implementation of early childhood parenting programs in low- and middle- income countries and provides curricula and comprehensive training materials. Reach Up’s goal is to strengthen caregivers’ skills to promote children’s development. The program has been implemented in several countries and meta-analysis of evaluations across 8 countries showed consistent benefits for child development and the quality of the home environment.
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the development of remote delivery methods for ECD programs. Experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean, indicated that remote delivery facilitated continued delivery of services, and was widely accepted by the ECD workforce and families. However, more evidence is needed on the effectiveness of remote delivery methods and whether these methods may facilitate scaling. In Jamaica remote delivery of Reach Up by the primary-care health system benefited parenting practices. Interviews with health staff and families suggested the remote methods were feasible and acceptable although staff felt that some in-person contact was necessary (Smith, 2023; Chang-Lopez, 2020).
Combining remote and in-person delivery could facilitate scaling. We therefore examined whether the Reach Up program, delivered by government primary health care services using a blended approach, had benefits for children’s development and for parenting behaviors. Findings suggest that combining in-person and remote methods may be a useful and cost-effective strategy for scaling.
Biography
Susan Walker is a global leader in enhancing children's cognitive and socio-emotional development in low and middle-income countries. She conducted follow-up research on the Jamaica supplementation and stimulation trial, demonstrating long-term benefits in adult income, education, and mental health from early interventions. Her work has informed international agencies on the importance of scaling early childhood development (ECD) services.
Susan contributed to the Lancet 2013 series on Maternal and Child Nutrition and authored key papers on child development risk factors and inequalities. She is involved with the WHO and the National Academy of Sciences on early childhood investment.
As the leader of the Reach Up parenting program, she has overseen its adaptation and evaluation in 18 countries, including Brazil and India, collaborating with local and international organizations for its expansion.
‘Adolescence’
Talk 5: Neural development facilitates adolescents’ needs for societal change ~ Eveline Crone, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Leiden University
Abstract
The current generation of adolescents is confronted with complex societal challenges such as a climate crisis, growing social inequalities, and increasing societal expectations (i.e., performance pressure). Adolescents may have the unique skills to become ‘agents of change’. The developmental period of adolescence is characterized by maturation of neural connections which facilitate three developmental needs: the need to take risks, the need to form deep and intimate connections and the need to be seen, heard and respected. A unique aspect about neural pruning and protracted brain development is that adolescence is a window of opportunity: given the large-scale changes in the developing brain, it is a period of creativity and rapid social adaptation. In this talk, I will discuss the added value of youth participation in developmental neuroscience for evidence-informed policy. I will present successful examples of projects where youth organizations, scientists, and policy makers collaborated to work towards optimizing conditions for growing up successfully.
Biography
Eveline Crone is Developmental Neuroscience and Neurocognitive Psychology professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University. She leads the SYNC lab, researching self-regulation and social development from birth through adolescence, utilizing neuroscience and engaging societal partners.
She has published over 200 articles and heads the GUTS program on adolescent development (2023-2033). She is a member of prestigious academies, including the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received several awards, including the Spinoza award. Crone actively shares her research with the public, authoring the bestselling book “The Adolescent Brain” and her upcoming “Generation Self-Confidence,” set for release in fall 2024.
Talk 6: Developmental risk and resilience: Current challenges and future directions for children and young people’s mental health research ~ Essi Viding, University College London
Abstract
Approximately half of mental health problems begin before the age of 14 and the rates of mental health problems among children and young people are increasing. Interventions have remained stagnant for decades, despite the fact that individuals with mental health problems are at risk of dying early and experiencing poor quality of life. The lack of progress in developing more effective interventions is likely due to our limited understanding of the causes of mental health problems, and the mechanisms by which interventions work. Mental health disorders emerge as a result of the interplay, over time, of multiple biological, familial and societal factors. This means that chasing ‘the first causes’ is unlikely to generate the transformations in interventions that are desperately needed to address the growing mental health crisis. Instead, we need to harness multiple methodological approaches in order to make progress. I will use research to conduct problems as an illustrative example of employing different methodological approaches to try and understand a particular presentation. I will also use this research to highlight the challenges we face, when we try to bring together different methodological approaches to understand development of mental health problems in children and young people. Finally, I will briefly present a roadmap for accelerating research discovery in children and young people’s mental health.
Biography
Essi Viding is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and Pro Vice Provost for Mental Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge at UCL.
Her work utilises different methodological approaches to study disruptive behaviour disorders, as well as children and young people’s mental health more broadly.
Her research has been recognised by a number of prizes, including the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Roundtable
We wrapped up the day with a chance for delegates to put their questions to our panel, in this session with our Directors, Prof. Pasco Fearon and Prof. Claire Hughes and today's speakers, Gaia Scerif, Paul Ramchandani, Patty Leijten, Eveline Crone and Essi Viding.