Donald Wertlieb

Donald Wertlieb, PhD, Professor emeritus, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University, USA, is an applied developmental scientist specializing in Pediatric Psychology.  He studies the complex processes by which children and families cope with adversity and disability and applies these understandings to program development in community and humanitarian settings. He collaborates with diverse partners in action research and participatory evaluation of inclusive early childhood development and inclusive nurturing care initiatives across the globe. In Ukraine, he helped establish an educational resource center serving families of children with disabilities and training teachers to address their needs and rights. Presiding over the Partnership for Early Childhood Development and Disability Rights (PECDDR), he coordinated the Early Childhood Development Task Force of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities, an international network of policy, program and research advocates. Wertlieb serves as an advisory board member of the Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC).  He served on the National Academy of Medicine Forum on Child Well-being: Promoting Children’s Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health. In his role on the planning committee for the National Summit on Child Mental Health, he fostered collaboration between developmental scientists and communication scientists to improve the quality and impact of research findings on services, policies and programs for young children, their families, and communities. Wertlieb served as President of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (Division 54, American Psychological Association) as well as the interdisciplinary American Orthopsychiatric Association, recently reorganized as the Global Alliance for Mental Health & Social Justice.