The first years of life are crucial for the developing mind. But adverse experiences—such as neglect or stress caused by health issues—put a young person at risk for long-term mental health and neurodevelopmental problems.
That’s why the University of Minnesota’s Birth to Three Clinic, led by Maria Kroupina, Ph.D., is working to move key findings about early adversity and at-risk children from research to clinical interventions.
Kroupina’s team was one of the first nationally to bring evidence-based mental health interventions for infants and toddlers into pediatric practice. Today, their success continues thanks to Masonic support. Recent accomplishments include:
- Designing an intervention protocol and parent education program, currently being piloted with neonatal intensive care patients
- Expanding the Birth to Three Clinic’s patient base through a new referral system
- Developing a clinical protocol for collecting research data
- Developing several educational programs for medical providers and residents
“Support from the Masons helps us translate what we learn from research into effective programming and services for children. These efforts would simply not be possible without this support and for that I am truly grateful.”
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