John Colombo, Ph.D.

Director, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies

1000 Sunnyside Avenue

1052 Dole Human Development Center

785-864-4295

 

Professor, Department of Psychology

1415 Jayhawk Boulevard

426 Fraser Hall

785-864-4131

 

Other Contact Information:

 

Wakarusa Research Facility laboratory

(785) 312-5345

Edwards Campus laboratory

(785) 864-8590

Carlson/Colombo laboratory, Smith Center, KU Med Center

(913) 588-5743

Email

colombo@ku.edu

 

History

I received my PhD in Psychology (1981) from the State University of New York at Buffalo.   After one year at Youngstown State University (1981-1982), and six years (1982-1988) as a research associate with the Bureau of Child Research at the University of Kansas, I joined the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas in 1988, and have been a member of the Department of Psychology since January of 2002.

 

Research

My research interests are in the developmental cognitive neuroscience of attention and learning, with a special focus on early individual differences in these areas and how they relate to the typical and atypical development of cognitive and intellectual function. I conduct research in laboratories at the KU Edwards Campus and the KU Medical Center, as well as at the Wakarusa Research Facility in Lawrence.

 

Students and Postdocs

I generally admit students interested in pursuing a graduate degree in my laboratory through the Developmental or Cognitive doctoral programs in the Department of Psychology.  However, I also advise students in the Child Language Doctoral Program and in Clinical Child Psychology.    Occasionally, postdoctoral positions are available through federal research or training grants, or through fellowships funded through the Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (F32 mechanism) at NIH. 

 

Collaborations

I collaborate with a number of faculty members at the University of Kansas and elsewhere.  Currently,  my collaborations include ongoing research and writing projects with the following scientists at other institutions:

Dr. Susan E. Carlson, A.J. Rice Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

Dr. Kathleen F. Gustafson, Research Assistant Professor of Neurology, and Director of Magnetoencephalography, Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.

Dr. Kathleen N. Kannass, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

Dr. Laura Caulfield, Associate Professor of Human Nutrition, The Johns Hopkins State University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Nelly Zavaleta, MD, Senior Investigator, Instituto de Investigaciones Nutricional, Lima (Molina), Peru

Dr. David Thomas, (Professsor, Department of Psychology), and Dr. Tay Kennedy (Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition), Oklahoma State University

Dr. Jane Roberts, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC, USA

Dr. Elizabeth Pungello and Dr. Sam Odom, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC, USA

 

Publications

A list of my publications (with some links to .pdf copies) can be obtained by clicking here.

 

 

Administrative Duties, Service, and Other Affiliations

 

My administrative responsibilities at the University of Kansas also include:

Director of the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies

Director and Principal Investigator, University of Kansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (KIDDRC).

Faculty chair, Human Subjects Committee on the Lawrence Campus (HSCL). HSCL is the campus-wide institutional review board for research conducted with human subjects. The committee is administered by the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc.

 

My primary faculty appointment is in the Department of Psychology, but I am also affiliated with the following interdisciplinary programs:

Child Language Doctoral Program

Clinical Child Psychology Doctoral Program

Neurosciences Doctoral Program

 

National Service

 

Secretary of the International Society for Infant Studies (ISIS)

Associate Editor for Child Development, the flagship journal of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)

Fellow, American Psychological Association (Division 7: Developmental Psychology)

Charter Member and Fellow, Association for Psychological Science

Member, Psychonomic Society

Editorial Board member for the following journals

Infancy

Infant Behavior and Development

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

 

Current Projects

 

Principal Investigator (with Peter G. Smith) , Kansas intellectual and developmental disabilities research center.  National Institutes of Health (Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development), P30 HD02528.   This is a core grant to serve investigators at the University of Kansas and University of Kansas Medical Center who conduct research related or relevant to developmental disabilities.   For more information, click here.

 

Co-Principal Investigator (with Susan Carlson), DHA supplementation and pregnancy outcome.  National Institutes of Health: Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2R01 HD047315.  This is a clinical trial designed to study the effects of prenatal supplementation with DHA on childrens’ cognitive development.   Our application (Spring 2011) to renew this project recently received a top-percentile score, and so we anticipate following this cohort through age 6.

 

Co-Principal Investigator (with Kathleen Gustafson and Susan Carlson), The effects of DHA on fetal heart rate and development. National Institutes of Health: Eunice Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, R21 HD059019.   This is a clinical trial designed to study the effects of prenatal supplementation with DHA on fetal cardiovascular function and early neurobehavioral development.

 

Principal Investigator (with Christa Anderson), Pupil size and circadian salivary variations in Autism Spectrum Disorder.  National Institute of Mental Health, R03 MH084061-01.   This is a study to determine the feasibility of using bioassays for early diagnosis of autism in infants and very young children.   The basis for this work derives from studies of attention and pupillometry of children with autism spectrum disorder.

 

Core Faculty Member and Co-Principal Investigator (with Dr. Kate Saunders), Postdoctoral training in translational research on intellectual and developmental disabilities.  National Institutes of Health: Eunice Shriver National Child Health and Human Development, T32HD007525.    This is a postdoctoral training grant.   If you are interested in this training grant, please click here.

 

 

Teaching

I have taught a number of courses in various departments at the University of Kansas,

and continue to teach courses as my other duties allow.

 

 

 

COURSE

TITLE

LAST OFFERED

ENROLLMENT

PSYC 318

Cognitive Psychology

Fall 2007

200-400

PSYC 333

Child Psychology

Spring 2007

300-500

PSYC 430

Cognitive Development (undergraduate)

Fall 2001

50-100

PSYC 480

Independent Study

Fall 2008

5-15

BIOL 449

Laboratory/Fieldwork in Human Biology

Fall 2008

1-5

PSYC 770

Cognitive Development (graduate)

Spring 2011

15-20

SPLH 764

Infant Development (with N. Brady and S. Barlow)

Spring 2007

10-20

PSYC 800

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Spring 2010

10-15

PSYC 800

Cognition in Infancy

Spring 2003

5-10

PSYC 815

Design and Analysis for Developmental Research

Fall 2008

10-15

 

Current Graduate Students and Postdocs

Lori Curtindale, MA (Developmental Psychology)

Leah Kapa, MA (Child Language)

Sara McElhaney (Developmental Psychology)

Caitlin Brez, PhD (NRSA Postdoctoral Trainee)

Brenda Salley, PhD (NRSA Postdoctoral Trainee)

 

Past Students and Postdocs currently in academic/research/clinical positions

Janet Frick, PhD, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Terrill Saxon, PhD, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Jeff Coldren, PhD, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH

W. Allen Richman, PhD, Prince George County Community College, Upper Marlboro, MD

Kathleen N. Kannass, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Carol Cheatham, University of North Carolina Nutrition Research Institute, Kannapolis, NC

Audra Sterling, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Christa J. Anderson, PhD, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Brandon Aylward, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH