Growing Up With Books: Early Literacy and the Developing Brain

Date/Time
Date(s) - 11 Oct 2012
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Location
Kiewit Auditorium, Arizona Cancer Center


Presentation by Dr. Perri Klass in Tucson, Oct. 11; in Phoenix, Oct. 12

Free presentation, open to the public, by award-winning professor of journalism and pediatrics at New York University and national medical director of Reach Out and Read; part of the Donald K. Buffmire Visiting Lectureship in Medicine series sponsored by the Flinn Foundation.

The benefits of reading aloud to children and the mechanisms by which early reading experiences build a child’s brain are among the topics that will be addressed by an award-winning professor of journalism and pediatrics and national medical director of Reach Out and Read who will be speaking in Arizona on Oct. 11-12.

Perri Klass, MD, professor of journalism and pediatrics and director of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and national medical director of Reach Out and Read (ROR), will present “Growing Up With Books: Early Literacy and the Developing Brain,” in Tucson, Thursday, Oct. 11, and in Phoenix, Friday, Oct. 12.

Free and open to the public, the talks are part of the Donald K. Buffmire Visiting Lectureship in Medicine series, sponsored by the Flinn Foundation. A flyer is available to view or download at http://www.opa.ahsc.arizona.edu/sites/opa.ahsc.arizona.edu/files/uploads/BuffmireFlyer.pdf

Dr. Klass will discuss the importance of early exposure to books, illustrations, written language and the habit of reading. The talk will include information from recent research on the developing brain and on programs which help parents learn strategies to enjoy books with their children. Dr. Klass also will address how early exposure to books and reading can affect language development, school success and a child’s health and well-being.

Dr. Klass has trained thousands of medical providers in the ROR strategies of early literacy promotion. She has received numerous awards for her work as a pediatrician and educator. She has written extensively about medicine, children, literacy and knitting, including two books about medical training.

The Phoenix presentation will be held Friday, Oct. 12, beginning with a meet-and-greet reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6 p.m., in Lecture Hall B102, Health Sciences Education Building, 435 N. 5th St., Phoenix. (Please note: Free parking after 5 p.m. is available at 714 E. Van Buren, across the street from the medical school campus.) For the Phoenix lecture, please RSVP by Oct. 8 to Sheila Maddox, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, 602-827-2007, email smaddox@email.arizona.edu.

 

The Tucson presentation will be held Thursday, Oct. 11, with the lecture from noon to 1 p.m., followed by a meet-and-greet reception from 1 to 1:30 p.m., in Kiewit Auditorium, Arizona Cancer Center, 1515 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson. The Tucson event also will be broadcast live and archived on the Internet at http://streaming.biocom.arizona.edu (Please note: There is a parking fee of $1.50 per hour, cash only, in The University of Arizona Medical Center-University Campus visitor/patient parking garage, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., just south of the Arizona Cancer Center. For directions, visit the website www.umcarizona.org/body.cfm?id=13) For more information about the Oct. 11 and upcoming Buffmire lectures in Tucson, contact Rebecca Parada-Anderson, UA College of Medicine – Tucson Office of Special Events, 520-626-6177, email reparada@email.arizona.edu.

 

 

About the Donald K. Buffmire Visiting Lectureship in Medicine

 

Initiated in 1997, the Donald K. Buffmire Visiting Lectureship in Medicine series continues the Flinn Foundation’s commitment to bring to Arizona leading practitioners and thinkers in the medical field. The lectureship offers physicians, students and community members opportunities to hear from distinguished leaders in the field of medicine and medical education. In 2008, the annual lecture was expanded to a biannual event and includes presentations in both Phoenix and Tucson.

 

The lectureship is named for the late Donald K. Buffmire, MD, in recognition of his distinguished career as a medical practitioner in Arizona and his leadership role with the Flinn Foundation in supporting the UA College of Medicine. Dr. Buffmire, who died in July 2008 at age 85, served on the board of the Flinn Foundation for 36 years, from 1965 to 2001, including 14 years as its chair.

 

The Phoenix-based Flinn Foundation is a privately endowed organization that awards grants to non-profit organizations in Arizona, primarily to improve the competitiveness of the state’s biomedical research enterprise.

 

About the UA College of Medicine

 

The UA College of Medicine (http://medicine.arizona.edu) is the only allopathic medical college in Arizona. Beginning in 1967 with a class of 32 students on its Tucson campus, the college today encompasses full, four-year medical-education programs in Tucson and in Phoenix.

 

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