Screen Deep

Dimitri Christakis, MD, MPH, is the George Adkins Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, the Chief Health Officer at Special Olympics International, Editor in Chief of JAMA Pediatrics, and Chief Science Officer at Children and Screens.  He has devoted his career to investigating how early experiences impact children and to helping parents improve their children's early learning environments. He and his colleagues in the Christakis Lab have made a number of landmark findings, including discovering that young children who watch TV are more likely to develop attention problems and other health and behavioral issues. He is the author of 170+ original research articles, a textbook of pediatrics, and co-author of the groundbreaking book, The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television Work for Your Kids. He is a graduate of Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania school of Medicine, and the University of Washington School of Public Health.