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Meet the Brazelton Institute's new director

Lise JohnsonIt is with great pleasure and pride that we announce that Lise Johnson has assumed the position of Director of the Brazelton Institute in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. Kevin Nugent is now the Director Emeritus. Read more about the transition here.

About the Brazelton Institute

The Brazelton Institute is dedicated to promoting the healthy development of infants and families, through research and education programs for people who care for children and their families in the perinatal period and the early months of life. The Institute is based in the Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, which is an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. It is the home of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) and the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system and provides training — both on- and off-site — on the NBAS and on the NBO system.

Our training programs are designed to provide professionals with a training experience that conveys an appreciation of the importance of an individualized relationship-based approach to infants and families, of recognizing the baby as a person from the outset, and of conveying an informed and sympathetic appreciation of the challenges parents and families face with the birth of a child. The Institute is also committed to promoting and conducting research to ensure that the information offered to professionals and parents is reliable and trustworthy. The work of the Brazelton Institute is based on the assumption that parents and families have the central and primary role in ensuring the health and well-being of their children. However, we believe that doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, physical and occupational therapists, infancy and early intervention specialists, child and family therapists, social workers, and other allied health and education professionals in the community, are significant partners in providing services to parents.

Dr. J. Kevin Nugent founded the Brazelton Institute in 1995. Building on T. Berry Brazelton's pioneering work with infants and families and based on almost 40 years of research and clinical practice, the Institute has as its goal the development of innovative service delivery models that target the changing health needs of children and families in today's society. The Brazelton Institute is recognized at local, national and international levels as a leader in developing and providing educational programs for professionals who care for very young children and families in both hospital and clinical settings around the world. There are NBO training sites in Australia, Japan, Norway, UK and US and NBO training has been provided by the Brazelton Institute in Africa, North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. There are NBAS training sites in Australia, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S.

Learn about NBO and NBAS training sites worldwide.

Learn more about our global community at www.newbornbehaviorinternational.org.

A doctor holds a small red ball over a newborn baby.

Learn about the history of NBAS and NBO training pioneered by Dr. Brazelton