About Us
Our Background
Based at Boston Children’s Hospital, we empower and inspire an exceptional community of translational investigators and clinical experts focused on neurodevelopmental disorders. We partner with these leaders, the broader research network, and patient advocacy organizations to advance promising innovations and to facilitate their translation into better diagnostics and treatments for childhood neurological disorders.
Established in 2013 by Dr. Mustafa Sahin, the Translational Neuroscience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital received an unprecedented gift from philanthropist Rosamund Stone Zander in 2021. These funds provide transformational research funding and technical resources for investigators, as well as advocacy, community-building and educational programs for patients, families and caretakers.
Vision
To apply state-of-the art science to transform the future for children and families affected by childhood neurological disorders.
Mission
To empower and inspire an exceptional community of translational investigators and clinical experts focused on neurodevelopmental disorders. To engage with a broader research network and patient advocacy organizations to advance promising innovations and facilitate their translation into better diagnostics and treatments for childhood neurological disorders.
Purpose
In the past, many pediatric neurological disorders were considered too rare or complex to target for treatment. Recent advances in medicine, genomics and computational biology open new possibilities for such patients. The Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center at Boston Children’s Hospital facilitates the development of interdisciplinary collaborations to improve early diagnosis, accelerate drug discovery, and generate additional novel strategies for reducing the burden of pediatric nervous system disorders for patients and families. We promote the translation of research discoveries into new treatment options and help train the next generation of translational neuroscience researchers.
Values
We uphold the values of scientific rigor, collaboration, transparency, objectivity, diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and access.
Our engagement with dozens of patient advocacy groups allows us to learn about patient and caregiver perspectives and their priorities for clinical research.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
We promote a transformative research community that respects, values, and supports all people. We commit to mindfulness of how our behaviors, statements, policies, practices, and processes may perpetuate historical racism, discrimination and harm, distrust versus healing, and impede mutual respect. We promise to engage with and include diverse research participants through community partnerships and intentional reduction of linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers to participation.
Read the RSZ TNC Principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. >
The RSZ TNC principles align with the Boston Children’s Hospital Declaration on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity. >
Origins
The Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center expands on the gains made by its accomplished predecessor, the Translational Neuroscience Center, which was founded by Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD, in 2013 and created the infrastructure for translating discovery into practical tools for diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders.
With a transformational gift through her J.P. Fletcher Foundation, Ms. Zander is fueling recruitment of world-class faculty, innovative research that will drive future clinical trials, and fellowships for the best and brightest young investigators.
Ms. Zander met Dr. Sahin, who is also the Rosamund Stone Zander Chair at Boston Children’s and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, in 2016. Ms. Zander is a family therapist, best-selling author, leadership consultant and educator. Her early experience teaching children with autism impressed upon her the challenges and needs of these individuals and their families. Learning of Dr. Sahin’s pioneering work to identify the complex genetic underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders, and his dedication to improving the lives of affected children, inspired Ms. Zander to endow the chair that he now holds. Over time, Ms. Zander challenged Dr. Sahin to imagine how increased scale might accelerate the progress of his work. Together they developed an ambitious plan to expand the capabilities and scope of the foundational Center in order to speed translation of scientific discovery into widespread clinical practice. The Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center launched in early 2021.
