Vanderbilt Kennedy Center 60th Anniversary Virtual Celebration
Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Future
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
5:30 to 7:00 p.m. CST
Online -- Register for Zoom link
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development was founded on May 29, 1965. In the 60 years since its convocation, the the way we think about and speak about intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has changed exponentially. As such, we have also adapted our methods of research, training, clinical services, and intervention to grow with the times. What insights have we learned about disabilities since the establishment of the VKC, what are our current goals and challenges, and what do we hope the next generation of researchers will accomplish in the years ahead?
Join us for a lively discussion with VKC friends and colleagues past and present as they discuss their experiences at the Center, how the VKC has impacted their careers, and why programs such as IDDRC, UCEDD, and LEND are vital to the advancement of IDD research.
Guest Speakers:
- Jeff Neul, M.D., Ph.D., Annette Schaffer Eskind Chair and Director, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center; Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Pharmacology, and Special Education, Vanderbilt University
- Elisabeth Dykens, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University
- Pat Levitt, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President, and Director, Saban Research Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)
- Len Abbeduto, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Director, University of California-Davis MIND Institute
- Karoly Mirnics, M.D., Ph.D., Dean and Director of the Munroe-Meyer Institute and Hattie B. Munroe Professor of Psychiatry, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, M.D., Suzanne Crosby Murphy Professor of Developmental Neuropsychiatry at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Director of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), and Columbia University
- Meghan Burke, Ph.D., Professor of Special Education, Vanderbilt University
- Carol Westlake, Senior Advisor, Tennessee Disability Coalition
- Stephen Camarata, Ph.D. (moderator), Professor of Hearing & Speech Sciences and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University
- Evon Batey Lee, Ph.D. (moderator), Professor of Pediatrics, Psychology, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Director of Training, UCEDD; Director, Vanderbilt Consortium LEND