McCaw gift sets up institute to study tots

If we really knew how their young brains worked, we'd probably have better ideas about how to teach, to be parents of and provide day care for infants and young children.

That, at least, is the thinking behind a new Seattle research institute founded with a $25 million gift from Jolene and Bruce McCaw.

The couple said they would work with other potential donors and investors to raise an additional $66 million -- for a total of $91 million -- for a new research facility, equipment and other costs.

"We note with fascination how scientists are discovering that infants are ready to learn minutes after they are born," the McCaws said in a prepared statement. The couple are the parents of a 2 1/2-year-old daughter and an 8-month-old son.

"As new parents we watch our own children with awe as they absorb information about their surroundings and interactions with us and with others," the McCaws said. At the same time, parents often feel "ill equipped and uninformed" about how best to nurture this early development.

The mission of the institute is to conduct research on how young brains work, then to communicate the findings to parents, families, educators and day care providers in the hope of improving early learning.

"That we continue to formally neglect some of the most fruitful years and windows of opportunity in a young child's development seems to us a waste of precious resources -- considering all that's known, even a national tragedy," the McCaws said.

The institute has a founding director, John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist who formerly was on the University of Washington faculty.

The institute tapped Sam Smith, the recently retired president of Washington State University, as chairman of the board of directors.

Much remains to be done in the next five years to get the institute up and running. The plan calls for 14 principal researchers and about 100 people overall to work at the Institute. A new research facility is planned for the Battelle property in Laurelhurst.

"We're building a state-of-the-art facility with what may be the best brain-imaging (equipment) in the world -- at least for the next 10 minutes," Medina said.

Medina has already recruited two researchers for the new venture. They are Patricia Kuhl, a UW professor of speech and hearing who specializes in how the brain processes language information, and Andrew Meltzoff, a psychology professor who heads the developmental psychology program at the UW.

The two UW professors will retain their appointments at the university, but will also receive money to perform research at the Talaris Research Institute. The name, from the Greek word meaning "swift of foot," reflects the idea that much work needs to be done quickly in this field.

To test the practical applicability of the research, the institute is to include a laboratory school and day care facility for newborns to 5-year-olds.

Medina said his goal is to attract researchers from universities around the world who work in different fields that relate to early development. The institute's mission includes getting information out to those who are responsible for nurturing young children.

P-I reporter Ruth Schubert can be reached at 206-448-8130 or ruthschubert@seattle-pi.com