Select Programs

The UTHSC Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND)  program is one of 60 programs nationwide funded by the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau to provide graduate-level interdisciplinary training in neurodevelopmental conditions.

• LEND Director: Toni Whitaker, MD
• LEND Associate Director: Sarah Carter, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC
• LEND Training Director: Leah Goldstein, PsyD

All of our faculty contribute to regularly to continuing education efforts. The Developmental Pediatrics Mini-fellowship serves practicing community clinicians by providing case-based continuing medical education with direct in-person clinical observations and didactic sessions. 

Members of the Division work with the CDC's Learn the Signs. Act Early. program to promote family-engaged developmental monitoring and early identification of developmental concerns. Free printed materials that include CDC's Milestones Checklists and the Milestone Tracker app in English and Spanish include family-friendly features to support child development. Act Early Ambassadors serve to assist health and early childhood education professionals as well as families to learn more about child development.

• Ambassador to Tennessee, Pediatric Consultant to national program: Toni M. Whitaker, MD
• Deputy Ambassador to Tennessee: Sarah Carter, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC

Division faculty and the UT Health Science Center LEND program support All Kids Academy (AKA), a joint venture of our university, Le Bonheur, and the University of Memphis (U of M). All Kids Academy is an innovative program supporting developmental play and learning for children who may be in the hospital for an extended time.

Our goal is to nurture every child's educational potential, in both sickness and in health.

All Kids Academy pairs a Le Bonheur patient with an intern from the University of Memphis. Each intern is supervised by an early childhood professional or licensed teacher.We are able to serve patients from infancy through 5th grade. Children may participate in activities in their room or in a small group setting.

All Kids Academy works with a child’s medical team, including the hospital schoolteacher.

To learn more about All Kids Academy, caregivers of children hospitalized at Le Bonheurmay ask their child life specialist, doctor, nurse, social worker or call 901.287.7151.

This work significantly expands current educational support for inpatients at Le Bonheur and trains the TN early childhood and K-12 education workforce.

The Division is pleased to work with the University of Tennessee Professional Psychology Internship Consortium based in the Department of Psychiatry (where several Division faculty have primary or secondary appointments).

• Training Director: Melissa L. Hoffmann, PhD

Interdisciplinary faculty and trainees participate as a collaborating site in the Autism Intervention Research Network in Physical Health (AIR-P, sunsetting late 2025). This multicenter research network funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau leads promotes and coordinates national research activities to improve the physical health and well-being of autistic individuals across the lifespan.