Dana Suskind, MD is Co-Director of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago. A Professor of Surgery, she is Founder and Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, and Founder and Director of Thirty Million Words.

Dr. Suskind's research focuses on foundational brain development, with an overarching aim to affect a population-shift in the knowledge and the behavior of parents and caregivers in order to reduce the achievement gap and prevent early cognitive disparities at onset. Given the absence of any such tools in the field, she developed a parent knowledge assessment tool, the Scale of Parent/Providers’ Expectations and Knowledge (SPEAK), which influences all three areas of her research: behavior change interventions, efficacy testing, and implementation scaling.

Her research includes over 35 peer-reviewed journals and 150 national and international speaking engagements. Author of the book, Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain, she has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Crain’s Chicago Business, National Public Radio, and other national media outlets.