The Program Schedule CE Credits Travel Registration

Cost is $1,695 per person through May 23, 2025 and $1,795 per person after May 23, 2025. Save $100 per person when registering a group of 3 or more.

Join Us for This Summer Institute

From July 21 - 25, 2025, Learning & the Brain is offering a Summer Institute on the campus of Boston University.

This Institute will review what is currently known about the brain basis of reading ability and disability. Neuroimaging research has revealed how plasticity in the child’s brain supports learning to read, and shown how differences in brain structure and function are associated with reading disabilities, such as dyslexia. You will examine how neuroscience knowledge may be translated into educational policies and practices in relation to topics such as diagnosis, prognosis, early identification of children at risk for dyslexia, and identification of children who will or will not benefit from a specific kind of intervention.

The Institute is designed to be an intense, hands-on workshop with group projects, and therefore is limited to 50 participants.

At This Institute, You Will

Become proficient in understanding the brain basis of typical reading acquisition and reading disorders, such as dyslexia

Delve deeper into recent advances in understanding the psychological basis of reading difficulty

Examine ways neuroscience advances can help to predict reading outcomes

Explore how neuroscience research can measure response to interventions

Recognize how reading acquisition and disorders differ across languages

Evaluate the relevance of neuroscience research for students and teachers and how to be a critical consumer of neuroscience regarding the reading brain

The Summer Institute Is for

PreK-12 Teachers and Reading Specialists

Administrators, School Psychologists, and School Clinicians

Education Professors and College Professors

About the Institute

This Learning & the Brain Summer Institute will be co-led by Dr. John Gabrieli and Dr. Joanna Christodoulou. This program is designed to help individuals and school teams develop knowledge about current scientific evidence concerning the brain basis of learning to read, and how such evidence may be related to education goals. The program offers participants an intensive professional development experience, drawing on the most up-to-date findings in human cognitive neuroscience.

Active participation is expected throughout this Institute. Class sessions will begin Monday afternoon. On subsequent days, classes will be held in the morning with afternoons free to explore Boston.

Attendees will be housed and all sessions will take place at the 10 Buick Street complex on the campus of Boston University in Boston, MA. Lodging, some meals, and course materials are provided. See the online schedule for meals provided.

Professional Development Credit

Earn up to 20 hours toward professional development credit for various professionals. For details on credit offered, visit our CE credit page or call our office at 857-444-1500 ext. 1. Note: credits are not provided by Boston University.

Accommodations and Meals

Interaction between faculty and participants outside the classroom is an integral part of the Institute. To foster this total immersion learning environment, participants are housed in shared apartments with their own bedrooms in a dormitory on the campus of Boston University in Boston, MA. The apartments contain four bedrooms and two bathrooms and are located at 10 Buick Street. The institute provides four nights lodging with an arrival date of July 21 and a departure date of July 25. If you would like to arrange for an early arrival and stay over on the night of Sunday, July 20, the extra cost would be $125. If you are interested in making your own accommodations off-campus, please call us at 857-444-1500 x1. Boston University is located in the city of Boston, close to Kenmore Square and Fenway Park and along the "T" with easy access to all the sites of Boston. All facilities are ADA compliant. Please check the online schedule for information on the meals provided.

John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD

John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, is a neuroscientist at MIT and a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. He is a faculty member in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Director of the Martinos Imaging Center, and a Member of the Faculty of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Gabrieli is an expert on the brain mechanisms of human cognition, including memory, thought, and emotion. His work includes neuroimaging studies on healthy adults and children as well as clinical patients with many different brain disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer's disease, autism, and dyslexia.

One of his major current interests is dyslexia, in particular the use of brain imaging to identify children who are at risk for reading difficulties and to understand how reading instruction affects the brain. In 2008, Gabrieli was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which cited his "penetrating analyses of the nature of human memory."

Joanna A. Christodoulou, EdD

Joanna A. Christodoulou, EdD, is a Professor at the MGH Institute of Health Professions working at the intersection of education, clinical, medical, and research contexts. She earned a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) in Human Development and Psychology, as well as master’s degrees in Mind, Brain, and Education (HGSE) and Child Development (Tufts University). Her clinical expertise focuses on identifying the constellation of strengths and challenges students experience relative to reading and language tasks. Her teaching experiences have spanned providing professional development to post-graduate professionals, designing courses, and instructing graduate and undergraduate students, and teaching struggling learners how to read. As Director of the Brain, Education, and Mind (BEAM) Lab, she leads research efforts on understanding reading challenges from the perspective of the student, family, school, and systems.

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