Dimitri Christakis

Dimitri Christakis MD MPH, is a pediatrician and epidemiologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is currently the George Adkins Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington, and the Director of the Center for Child Health Behavior and Development at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Over the years, Christakis has researched a variety of topics related to child health and health care.  His current research focuses on the effects of media usage on young children’s cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social development. Funding for his research has come from a number of federal agencies as well as foundations. His most recent studies in this area have found an association between television and video viewing before the age of three years and attentional and cognitive problems at age seven. He is currently piloting interventions designed to reduce, modify, and optimize media usage in preschool children as well as provide constructive and developmentally appropriate alternatives to screen time for children. His book, The Elephant in the Living Room: How to Make Television Work for your Family was recently published by Rodale (www.maketvwork.com). His work has been featured on the Today show, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, as well as all major international print magazine and newspapers.