James McKenna
Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology
Degrees
B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.A., San Diego State University; Ph.D., University of Oregon
Research Profile
McKenna pioneered the first behavioral and electro-physiological studies documenting differences between mothers and infants sleeping together and apart and has become known worldwide for his work in promoting studies of breast feeding and mother-infant cosleeping. A biological anthropologist, McKenna began his career studying the social behavior and development of monkeys and apes with an emphasis on parenting behavior and ecology and has published over 130 refereed scientific papers, most on infant sleep and SIDS, including three books, his most recent titled Evolutionary Medicine (Oxford University Press). He won the prestigious Shannon Award (with Dr. Sarah Mosko) from the National Institutes of Child Health and Development for his SIDS research and is the nation's foremost authority and spokesperson to the national press on issues pertaining to infant and childhood sleep problems, sleep development, and breast feeding. Professor McKenna is currently writing a parenting book for the wider market entitled: The Society Who Mistook Their Children For Bats (or Why Infants and Children Have Sleep Problems To Solve). In 2008, McKenna received the prestigious Rev. Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Teaching and in the same year was inducted as a Fellow, in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the country's most exclusive scientific societies.Contact Information
624
Flanner Hall
631-5547
McKenna.25@nd.edu
