Dyslexia expert to give prestigious annual lecture at St John’s College
"Breakthrough findings on the way the brain encodes speech rhythm patterns"
World-leading education expert Professor Usha Goswami, whose pioneering research has revealed that children with dyslexia hear speech rhythms differently, will give the 2023 St John’s Linacre Lecture.
The St John’s College Fellow, who is Professor of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience and Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education at Cambridge, has revolutionised the global understanding of dyslexia, showing it to be a language disorder and not a visual one as previously thought.
Professor Goswami uses insights from auditory neuroscience to provide a new perspective on the way the brain encodes speech. Her lecture, based on her latest research data from babies as well as children, will explore the implications of her finding that dyslexic youngsters are less sensitive than their peers to the rhythm patterns of language.
This year’s Linacre Lecture will take place on 9 February at 5.30pm in the Main Lecture Theatre in the Old Divinity School (register here).
The prestigious annual lecture, delivered by a leading research scientist in the general field of medicine, was established in 1524 by a benefaction from Thomas Linacre, physician to Henry VIII and first President of the Royal College of Physicians. The lectures are open to all members of the University.
Professor Goswami was made a CBE in the 2021 for her contribution to educational research and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in the same year.
In 2020, she received the world’s largest education award - the $3.9 million Yidan Prize – for ‘creating a better world through education’. Her research centre – the first in the world focusing on educational neuroscience – uses non-invasive techniques to understand children’s cognitive development, particularly of language.
Professor Goswami’s breakthrough findings on the way the brain encodes speech rhythm patterns are enabling the development of transformative educational interventions, which will benefit millions of children with dyslexia worldwide.
* The 2023 Linacre Lecture, Dyslexia, Rhythm, Language and the Developing Brain, will begin at 5.30pm in the Main Lecture Theatre in the Old Divinity School and will be followed by a drinks reception in the Central Hall of the Old Divinity School.
Use the link to register by Friday 3 February 2023.
Published 06/01/2023