Giving to Haskins

For over 85-years Haskins has been in the forefront of interdisciplinary research across languages and cultures providing important insights into practical problems through theoretical development and technological advances, and in more recent years become a leading NIH-funded center for examining the brain bases of speech, language and reading development and remediation of their disorders. 

However, a realistic look at the trajectory of federal research funding suggests that translational research progress under the current funding model is neither keeping up with the societal need nor providing the kind of support to take full advantage of the rapidly changing advances in neuroscience and technology. This is unlikely to change anytime soon. Innovative ideas are out there but cannot be adequately implemented because of insufficient funding, scale, duration, or scope. In order to establish the acceleration of innovative research on neuromechanisms of learning and plasticity (basic and applied neuroscience) we need to focus on early identification and intervention, the development of more effective strategies for prevention and treatment and integrate current best practices with new treatment designs and technologies.  Practically, we need to secure new funding sources and complementary partnerships to support innovation and intervention.