Morts inexpliquées de bélugas du Saint-Laurent
The vision of architect Douglas Cardinal
Battle on the border
Prison exchange program breaks down the walls
Ici et là
Here and there
Campus
Human development
Giving children the best possible
start in life
That’s the aim of a new trans-disciplinary institute at the University of Toronto
a child’s first 2,000 days from conception to
roughly the start of school – that essentially is the
focus of the recently announced Fraser Mustard
Institute for Human Development at the Univer
sity of Toronto.
The conditions under which the child devel
ops during that time “has a remarkable impact on
shaping that individual’s future health, learning
and social functioning,” says the new institute’s
executive director, Stephen Lye, a professor in
the departments of obstetrics and gynaecology
and physiology at U of T. “If we can optimize
this environment during this period, providing
our children with the best possible start in life,
it would go a long way to enhancing their full
potential, which I think is the goal of any society.”
The “virtual” institute will bring together
researchers from across disciplines at the uni
versity – including education, medicine, psychol
ogy, biology and social work – as well as at the
www.affairesuniversitaires.ca / décembre 2012 / 7
affiliated teaching hospitals. About 100 people
at the university have already expressed an inter
est in joining, says Dr. Lye, “and I suspect we’re
just at the tip of the iceberg.”
The institute is named in honour of pioneer
ing childhood development expert Fraser Mus
tard, who died in November 2011. “He was a
remarkable individual who contributed to a
revolution in our thinking about the importance
of early childhood,” says Dr. Lye. “He was able to
use evidence and put it in a way that captured
the attention of both the public and government
to affect change.” When, for example, Ontario
instituted fullday kindergarten, “Fraser had a
role to play in that.” The eponymous institute will
continue that legacy, he says.
– léo charbonneau
