Laurie C. Miller

Laurie C. Miller M.D. is Professor of Pediatrics, Adjunct Professor of Nutrition and of Child Development, Tufts University (Boston, USA) and Senior Consultant to the National Center for Adoption and Permanency.

She has published >100 peer-reviewed articles and >40 chapters related to pediatrics, international child health and international adoption, and two books (Handbook of International Adoption Medicine, Oxford University Press, and Encyclopedia of Adoption [with C. Adamec], Facts on File).

She is the Principal Investigator of a USAID-funded 8-year longitudinal randomized controlled trial to monitor and improve the health, nutritional, and developmental status of impoverished children in rural Nepal, and also serves as a consultant on zoonotic diseases to a World Bank-funded project in Nepal.

She is currently a visiting professor in the Department of Child Psychiatry at Ste. Anne’s Hospital (adoption consultation service) and the International Adoption Clinic at Necker Hospital in Paris

Title of presentation: Effects of early undernutrition 

Abstract: One of the most common findings among institutionalized children is undernutrition. Lack of adequate calories, inappropriate nutrients, feeding difficulties, and inadequate nurture contribute to this problem.  Many newly adopted children therefore arrive with signs of undernutrition.  Most rapidly show catch-up growth; the degree and quality of this growth recovery is not consistent.  Moreover, the impact of early undernutrition on young children is profound, with long-term impacts on growth, development, emotional regulation, and behavior.  Some of these effects may be life-long.  In this session, these pathways will be reviewed.