Laurie M. Brotman, PhD

My research focuses on developing, evaluating and scaling culturally responsive, family-centered, preventive interventions for racially and ethnically diverse families of young children living in historically disinvested neighborhoods. The aim of this community-engaged research is to inform evidence-based policies and practices in support of equitable health and education outcomes for children and families. 

One particular area of interest is to partner with public systems leaders (e.g., school districts) to implement and scale ParentCorps, an evidence-based program that we developed at NYU Langone, to transform the early childhood education experience for children and families. In partnership with NYC public schools, we successfully scaled ParentCorps as an enhancement to universal pre-K and demonstrated positive impact on family engagement and child health and development among primarily Black and Latine families through three cluster randomized controlled trials.  

Currently, through two NIH R01 grants, we are assessing whether ParentCorps in pre-K mitigates some of the negative consequences of COVID-19 on family engagement and child mental health and academic achievement, and whether ParentCorps prevents risk for obesity in pre-adolescence. In both studies, we examine whether intervention effectiveness varies by neighborhood characteristics, and we work to amplify family voice through mixed methods.  

As director of the Center for Early Childhood Health and Development in the Department of Population Health, I proudly support ParentCorps’ National Office (led by Kai-ama Hamer) and its national growth strategy (weareparentcorps.org), and Together Growing Strong (led by Bonnie Kerker), a highly innovative, two-generation, place-based initiative in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in collaboration with the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone.