To close one of the most persistent blind spots in autism research, MIDB’s Meghan Swanson, PhD, has been awarded a $34.7M grant from @ariaroadmap.org 🧠 Read more ➡️ z.umn.edu/MAPLE

Calling all providers! 📚 Elevate your practice with MIDB’s new evidence-based training modules, including autism, anxiety, ADHD, OCD/PANDAS, challenging behaviors and more. Start here ➡️ z.umn.edu/MEDBProviderModules

Stepping into a professional workplace for the first time can be intimidating. But a partnership between MIDB and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis is changing that, giving students hands-on work experience before they even graduate high school. Read more ➡️ z.umn.edu/CristoRey

The great outdoors has the power to reshape the architecture of the young brain and hone brain functioning — making it the ultimate classroom for a developing mind, says MIDB member Cathy Jordan, PhD. Read more ➡️ z.umn.edu/NatureIsNurture

Nature is nurture

Cathy Jordan, PhD, illuminates the health-boosting benefits of nature — especially for kids.

z.umn.edu

Youth journalists join MIDB’s Dr. Maria Kroupina to explore stress, resilience, and brain health in the latest Brain Health Solutions for All podcast—a partnership with our CEEd Hub and the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation. Listen ➡️ z.umn.edu/SMSBPod3

The @touretteassn.bsky.social has officially designated the MnTiC Lab, located at MIDB, as a Center of Excellence. This program recognizes medical and academic institutions that promote the highest standards of evidence-based care and research. Read the full story ➡️ z.umn.edu/MnTiCCofE

Join us for a sprint focused on ADHD and complex ADHD, part of our larger Project ECHO webinar series! 🗓️ Thursdays, April 2-23, 12-1 p.m. Ideal for primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, mental health & educational providers ➡️ z.umn.edu/adhdsprint

Explore how brain health supports well-being at every stage of life at the Brain Health Fair, this Saturday, March 21 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m 🧠 This event is free but registration is required ➡️ z.umn.edu/brainhealth

Congratulations to Lin Zhang, PhD, co-director of the Analytics Hub, on her induction into the University of Minnesota Academies for Excellence in team science 🔬 This honor recognizes her instrumental role in utilizing collaboration to address intractable problems in healthcare research.

Congratulations to Dr. Damien Fair, MIDB co-director, on being named to the inaugural Index of Inspiring Black Scientists. The database spotlights exceptional Black scientists driving excellence, leadership, and collaboration across disciplines worldwide ➡️ z.umn.edu/InspiringBlackScientists

MIDB researchers are leading the charge to understand autism spectrum disorder at its earliest stages—and to support families along the way. Learn more about their work ➡️ z.umn.edu/MIDBUnmaskingAutism

Just launched: A full suite of no-cost provider trainings developed through the DoD Child Collaboration Study 🌟 Flexible, practical and research-backed! Explore modules ➡️ z.umn.edu/MEDBProviderModules

Tiny bricks, big impact 🧱 Dr. Jeff Wozniak received a play-based LEGO® MRI Scanner set—assembled with care by a staff member's son, Oliver—that will help the Child Family Life team at MIDB ease anxiety for kids preparing for MRI scans.

Join us for a hybrid presentation about evidence-based intervention for autistic individuals with intellectual disability and/or high support needs in Grand Rapids, Minn. on Nov. 20 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Learn more & register ➡️ z.umn.edu/MIDB1120

🚀 New from MIDB: Free, self-paced training modules for providers supporting children’s mental, emotional, developmental and behavioral health. Learn more and get access ➡️ z.umn.edu/MEDBProviderModules

This work, a collaborative effort between MIDB and the University of Minnesota's Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, provides a first glance on what we can achieve with 7T MRI in infants and highlights its role as a promising new avenue for developmental cognitive neuroscience 🧠

Julia Moser@drjuliamoser.bsky.social · 9mo ago

🚨 New preprint on the first infant 7T MRI project in North America! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We showcase that by leveraging 7T for infants, we can improve data quality and thereby facilitate precision functional mapping in early development.

MIDB researchers Drs. Maria Kroupina, Jeffrey Wozniak, and Jessica Simacek recently presented at the Zero to Three LEARN Conference, highlighting how brain research is driving new clinical, intervention, and community outreach models to support children facing early adversity 💡

What a day for brain science! 🧠✨ We loved connecting with our community at Brain Day this past Sunday, where MIDB teams from Creativity Camp, the MnTiC Lab, CDNI, and the CEEd Hub shared interactive demos and hands-on experiments, celebrating discovery at the U of M.

Join us for a sprint focused on autism spectrum disorder, part of our larger Project ECHO webinar series! 🗓️ Thursdays, Oct. 30-Nov. 20, 12-1 p.m. Ideal for primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, mental health & educational providers ➡️ z.umn.edu/autismsprint

Stop by the North Central Research and Outreach Center in Grand Rapids, Minn. on Oct. 30 from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for a presentation and listening session! Learn about what every good autism evaluation should include and share your insights. Register ➡️ z.umn.edu/as7l

In the first episode of the "Brain Health Solutions for All" series, a collaboration between MIDB and the Youth Community Journalism Podcast, youth journalists interview experts on addiction and recovery, including CEEd Hub director Dr. Dziwe Ntaba ➡️ youtu.be/PKinAXdRdiM?...

Hormonal milieu influences whole-brain structural dynamics across the menstrual cycle using dense sampling in multiple individuals @carinaheller.bsky.social, @uni-jena.de, @umn-midb.bsky.social, @icsantabarbara.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hormonal milieu influences whole-brain structural dynamics across the menstrual cycle using dense sampling in multiple individuals - Nature Neuroscience

Heller et al. showed dense longitudinal imaging in four females, including one with endometriosis and one using oral contraceptives, and the finding that different hormonal milieus influence widespread brain volume changes linked to progesterone or estradiol.

nature.com

Thrilled to share that I have been awarded a @bbrfoundation.bsky.social Young Investigator Grant!

The Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative@bowers-wbhi.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Congrats, Dr. Carina Heller, PhD @carinaheller.bsky.social & thanks to @bbrfoundation.bsky.social. Carina received the 2025 BBRF Young Investigator Grant, enabling her to further investigate the impact of hormonal contraceptives use in adolescence, especially for mental health. #Neuroscience

Please join us for our upcoming Ethics Grand Rounds webinar, “Public Perceptions of Health Equity and How Communication Can Shape Understanding and Action” featuring Sarah Gollust, PhD. 🗓️: Friday, Oct. 3, 2025 ⏱️: 12-1 p.m. (CDT) Register Now! It’s free: z.umn.edu/ap9m

Join us for a free Mood Disorders Sprint, part of our larger Project ECHO webinar series! 🗓️ Thursdays, Sept. 25-Oct. 16, 12-1 p.m. Ideal for primary care, pediatric, behavioral health, mental health & educational providers! Register ➡️ z.umn.edu/mdsprint

🚀 Big news: With a $3.3M NIH grant, MIDB members Meghan Swanson, PhD, and Mark Schleiss, MD, are leading a first-of-its-kind study of infants born with congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV). Learn more ➡️ med.umn.edu/news/univers...

Inspired by a personal health journey, our teammate Russell is competing in the Madison Ironman on Sept. 7 to raise funds for the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. Join him in supporting brain health ➡️ z.umn.edu/RussellIronmanMIDB

Dr. Damien Fair, co-director of MIDB, is part of a team making breakthroughs in mental health. His work is helping to show how a personalized brain "pacemaker" gave a man with severe depression relief, allowing him to experience joy again. Read more ➡️ www.newscientist.com/article/2493...

Brain implant lets man 'experience joy' for the first time in decades

A device that has been likened to a pacemaker for the brain has given a man with severe depression great relief

newscientist.com

Are you a provider or care connector? Help us better understand community needs and experiences in accessing children’s mental, emotional, developmental, and behavioral health by participating in a series of surveys. Learn more about the research study ➡️ z.umn.edu/BHSurvey

Inspired by a personal health journey, our teammate Russell is competing in the Madison Ironman on Sept. 7 to raise funds for the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. Join him in supporting brain health ➡️ z.umn.edu/RussellIronmanMIDB