Neuroscience and the Future of Learning
AERDF’s newest initiative, Neuroscience and the Future of Learning will launch in late 2026. This is an exciting, inclusive R&D program focused on how young people actually learn and thrive, in real time. This program will bring together communities, neuroscientists, educators, and learners to study learning as it happens, apply cutting-edge innovations in neuroscience, and use their discoveries to benefit all students.
Adolescence is changing faster than our understanding.
The adolescent brain is wired for exploration, connection, risk-taking, and self-discovery. Yet social media, technology, and AI are reshaping adolescence and how young people learn. Our job is to understand these impacts on students as deeply and as rigorously as possible. Only then can we build learning tools, practices, and environments that work with the adolescent brain, not against it.
This program is rooted in the belief that discoveries in neuroscience have the potential to aid us in meeting the challenges of this moment.
Learn more about the Executive Director role to lead this program.
Neuroscience and the Future of Learning Fellowship
In the first phase of this work, researchers, developers, educators, school leaders, and students collaborated with AERDF to surface the learning challenges facing today’s youth and understand how neuroscience research and technology could help.Through this work, we identified where neuroscience had breakthrough potential to support solving those problems and transforming learning systems.
In the second phase of this work, AERDF established a fellowship of neuroscientists and school leaders to investigate and develop the core aims and components of our program design. Student, teacher, and field leader advisory groups convened regularly to provide feedback and collaboration.
AERDF Neuroscience Fellows
Jenn Charlot
Dr. Jennifer Charlot is Co-founder and Head of Programming and External Partnerships at RevX Education, where she designs academically rigorous, real-world, and culturally responsive school models. As a founding partner in school design at Transcend Education, Jenn has led instructional research and development efforts nationally and held influential roles at Character Lab and NYC District 79. She holds a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Harvard, a Master’s from Columbia, and a BA from Boston College, and is a nationally recognized expert in innovative school transformation and social-emotional learning.
Jennie Grammer
Dr. Jennie Grammer is a Professor of Human Development and Psychology at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. She is the Faculty Director of the UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning and the President of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society. She is renowned for pioneering research at the intersection of developmental psychology, education, and neuroscience, studying how school experiences—especially in diverse and underserved settings—influence executive function, self-regulation, attention, and metacognition. Grammer develops child-friendly brain measures and tracks real-time cognitive processes in classrooms. She received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from UNC Chapel Hill.
Adam Green
Dr. Adam Green is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Georgetown University, where he directs the Lab for Relational Cognition. He is a leading authority on the neuroscience of creativity, investigating both the neural basis of creative reasoning and the use of neurostimulation to enhance learning and innovation. Dr. Green is the founder and former president of The Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity and Editor-in-Chief at the Creativity Research Journal. He is co-founder and Chief Scientist at HUPside, an innovation platform leveraging neuroscience and data analytics to unlock human potential in learning and work.
Catherine Hartley
Dr. Catherine Hartley is a Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University. Her methodological approach is distinguished by her use of neuroimaging, computational modeling, psychophysiology, and ecological, real-world behavioral tracking to illuminate the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying motivation, learning, behavioral control, exploration, and resilience. By combining state-of-the-art neuroscience with real-world, scalable methods, her work lays a foundation for the development of interventions and policy breakthroughs that nurture adolescent flourishing. Her honors include the National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award, and the Society for Neuroeconomics Early Career Award.
Jeff Li
Jeff Li is the Founder of The Movement Factor and an award-winning educator, school founder, and executive leader. His current work centers on the idea that we are profoundly underusing movement to help children thrive, drawing on his experience as a math, civics, and physical fitness teacher and as co-founder of KIPP Beyond in New York City, one of KIPP’s highest performing middle schools. A former Executive Director of Teach For America–New York, he has been nationally recognized for excellence in teaching and student achievement and cited as an exemplar for educational models across books and media.
Allyson Mackey
Dr. Allyson Mackey is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and Principal Investigator of the Changing Brain Lab. Her research investigates how brain plasticity and environmental experiences shape cognitive development and learning, with the aim of informing equity-focused interventions. In school- and lab-based studies, she uses neuroimaging and real-world academic measures to identify experiences that build reasoning, creativity, and curiosity. Her work has earned numerous accolades, including the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award. Dr. Mackey earned her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral training at MIT.
Ken Montgomery
Dr. Ken Montgomery is the Co-Founder of Design Tech High School, which is located on the Oracle corporate campus in Redwood Shores, CA. Ken has served as the executive director for over ten years now. Ken completed his PhD in administration and policy analysis at Stanford University. While at Stanford Ken published several articles about charter schools and school leadership and developed a school leadership course. As a teacher Ken held a variety of positions and won several awards including being named a member of the USA Today All-teacher team and becoming a National Board Certified teacher.
Eva Telzer
Dr. Eva Telzer is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill and co-director of the Winston Center for Technology and Brain Development. Her research examines how social and cultural contexts shape adolescent brain development, with a focus on prosocial and risk-taking behaviors. Telzer has authored over 200 publications and is a go-to scientific voice for national media and policy. Her work has received the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award, the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution, and a Young Investigator Award from the Flux Congress Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
Nienke van Atteveldt
Dr. Nienke van Atteveldt is a Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she leads the Lab of Learning and serves as Professor of Neuroscience and Society and Scientific Director of LEARN! Her research investigates how children and adolescents become motivated and resilient learners, linking self-beliefs, brain development, learning trajectories, and wellbeing in school. She has pioneered using portable, noninvasive neuroimaging methods in the classroom to study learning, motivation, and the role of social context. She received her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Maastricht University, conducted postdoctoral research at Columbia University and obtained an honorary professorship at University College London.