Charles H. Zeanah, Jr., MD, is the Mary Peters Sellars Polchow Chair of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine and Director of the Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.
Contributions to the Field
Dr. Zeanah is widely recognized for his leadership in the field of infant mental health. He has had a focus on early childhood psychopathology and the factors important in helping children recover from serious adversity. He has advocated for a more developmentally informed approach to foster care for young children, asserting that foster care in early childhood should be considered a different intervention than foster care for older children and adolescents.
Affiliations
- ZERO TO THREE
- Board of Directors, 2008 – 2019
- Chair, DC:0-3 Revisions Taskforce
- Scientific Meeting Planning Workgroup
- DC:0-5 Taskforce
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Board Workgroup
- Clinical Mentor, ZERO TO THREE Fellowship Program
- Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
- Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- World Association for Infant Mental Health
- Society for Research in Child Development
- Association of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
Recent Honor/Awards/Recognition/Books Published
- 2018, Handbook of Infant Mental Health, Guilford Press
- 2015 Agnes Purcell McGavin Award for Prevention from the American Psychiatric Association
- 2013 Maureen Evans Award for Outstanding Services to Children (with Charles Nelson and Nathan Fox) from the Joint Council on International Children’s Services
- 2011 Fellow in Residence, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, Bellagio, Italy
- 2010 Serge Lebovici Award from the World Association for Infant Mental Health.
Dr. Zeanah has served as a presenter for invited addresses worldwide. He currently serves as a clinical mentor to select ZERO TO THREE Fellows. Dr. Zeanah was honored by ZERO TO THREE in 2022 with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of early childhood.
