News

Congratulations to Dr. Xin Sun!
Dr. Xin Sun, as post-doctoral fellow at the Infant Studies Centre, has been awarded the prestigious Banting Fellowship Award !

Our Own Sarvenaz Oloomi Presents at Flux and FIT’NG 2023
Sarvenaz Oloomi presented her project at the Flux Society and The Fetal, Infant, and Toddler Neuroimaging Group (FIT’NG) conferences.

Sasha Is Awarded The Quinn Undergraduate Summer Research Award (USRA)!
Sasha Predojevic has been awarded the Quinn Undergraduate Summer Research Award (USRA), from the UBC Department of Psychology to work full-time this summer.

Impact of COVID-19 on Language and Literacy in Canada
Featuring contributions from Dr. Janet F. Werker, the Royal Society of Canada has recently released a series of essays on how COVID-19 has impacted language development.

Dr. Haykaz Mangardich Joins Our Centre as Postdoctoral Fellow
Click here to read more about Haykaz's research at the Infant Studies Centre.

Dr. Werker’s ‘Wonder Kids’ Talk Available Online
Dr. Werker kicks off the first 'Wonder Kids' talk of 2021 with a discussion about babies growing up learning more than one language.

Coronavirus Response: Our Centre is closed until further notice
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Early Development Research Group will be physically closed until further notice.

Dr. Drew Weatherhead Joining Dalhousie as Assistant Professor
Drew will begin her position at Dalhousie University in July 2020.

Dr. Werker Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences!
Election to the NAS is one of the highest honours a scientist can receive; please join us in congratulating Dr. Werker!

Dr. Janet F. Werker’s Award Address Available Online
Watch the Director of our Centre present at the 2019 APS Convention in Washington, D.C.

Congratulations to the Director of Our Centre!
Dr. Werker has been named as a recipient of the 2019 William James Fellow Award by the Association for Psychological Science (APS).

Dr. Janet F. Werker Officially Invested into the Order of Canada
On November 20th, Dr. Werker attended the Order of Canada investiture ceremony at Rideau Hall, Ottawa.

Dr. Janet F. Werker Awarded the 2018 Killam Prize
The Director of our Centre has been awarded the Killam Prize in the Social Sciences by the Canada Council for the Arts.

NSF & Killam Fellow: Dr. Maria Arredondo
Maria, a Killam Fellow, has just been awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from NSF to study bilingual infants' language acquisition and attention.

Riley & Mary are Undergraduate Summer Research Awardees!
Riley Bizzotto and Mary Zhao have been awarded an NSERC USRA and Quinn USRA, respectively, so they will be working with us full-time this summer!

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship: Dr. Drew Weatherhead
Drew has been awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from SSHRC to investigate the foundations of language-group preferences in early childhood.

PetSmart Charities Thought Innovator Award: Dr. Nicole Sugden
Nicole received the Thought Innovator Award from PetSmart Charities of Canada, which includes funding to study the influence of pet dogs on infants' language and socio-communicative development.

Two of Our RAs are Bound for Graduate School
Maegan Mitchell and Erin Stadnyk will begin grad programs in Developmental Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, respectively, in September 2018. We couldn't be more proud of them!

Dr. Janet F. Werker Appointed Officer of the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is one of the nation's highest civilian honours, recognizing outstanding achievement, dedication to the community, and service to the nation.

Dr. Janet F. Werker is Recipient of the 2017 Pickering Award
Please join us in congratulating the Director of our Centre on this wonderful accomplishment!

Our Research Assistants Present at LSURC 2017
Earlier this year, several Research Assistants from our Centre presented their work at the Language Sciences Undergraduate Research Conference (LSURC).

Two New Postdoctoral Fellows Join Our Centre
We are very pleased to announce that Drs. Loreto Nácar and Nicole Sugden have joined the Infant Studies Centre as Postdoctoral Fellows!

Baby Talk at Vancity Theatre
As part of the UBC University Killam Professor Lecture Series, Dr. Janet F. Werker hosted a special screening and discussion of the acclaimed documentary Babies, directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Balmès.

Farewell to Dr. Priya Kandhadai
Our long-time Research Associate, Priya, is moving on to teach full-time at Douglas College. We will miss her dearly and wish her all the best!

Dr. Janet F. Werker Awarded 2016/17 University Killam Professorship
The Director of our Centre, Dr. Janet F. Werker, has recently been honoured as one of UBC’s three 2016/17 University Killam Professors!

“Baby Talk”: Our Summer 2016 Newsletter
Check out our latest newsletter for results from recently completed studies as well as information about new and currently running studies!

Dr. Janet Werker Awarded the SSHRC 2015 Gold Medal Impact Award
Janet is the first UBC Professor to receive this award, SSHRC’s highest distinction, given to individuals whose sustained leadership, dedication, and originality of thought have inspired colleagues and students alike.

Exciting New Research From Our Centre! Babies Need Free Tongue Movement to Decipher Speech Sounds
New research from our Centre has found that inhibiting infants’ tongue movements impedes their ability to distinguish between speech sounds. The study is the first to discover a direct link between infants’ oral-motor movements and auditory speech perception.

Dr. Janet Werker’s Psychology Today Interview is an Essential Read
In a recent Psychology Today interview with François Grosjean, Dr. Janet Werker discusses her research on the ways in which bilingual infants are able to separate and discriminate between different languages.

Dr. Janet Werker Awarded New NSERC Funding
Today, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) announced that Professor Janet Werker, Director of the Infant Studies Centre, was awarded $550,000!

Dr. Janet Werker’s Canada Research Chair Renewal
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Janet Werker, UBC Professor of Psychology, whose Canada Research Chair appointment was renewed for a second time!

Dr. Janet Werker Elected as 2014 American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow
Dr. Werker’s membership is an exciting first for the Department of Psychology and for UBC. She is the first female scientist at UBC and in Canada to become a member of the  prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.