Joanna Christodoulou is Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the Mass General Brigham (MGB) University of Health Professions and Director of the Brain, Education, and Mind (BEAM) Lab. Her research advances the science of reading development, reading disabilities, and learning differences, translating neuroscience and educational research into evidence-based practices that improve outcomes for children. Her work integrates cognitive neuroscience, psychology, education, and clinical background to better understand how children learn to read and how to identify and remediate reading difficulties.

An internationally recognized scholar of reading development and dyslexia, Dr. Christodoulou leads interdisciplinary research examining the cognitive, neural, and environmental factors that shape literacy acquisition and intervention response. Her research program investigating reading development, dyslexia, executive function, and learning differences has been supported by federal (e.g., National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation) and foundation (e.g., Spencer, Fulbright, W.T. Grant, Tower, Milton) grants.

She serves on the boards of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, International Dyslexia Association, and Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Alliance. Dr. Christodoulou is a Research Affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and taught at Harvard University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) for over 15 years. She earned her doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from HGSE and holds master’s degrees in Mind, Brain, and Education from HGSE and Child Development from Tufts University. Dr. Christodoulou collaborates with researchers, educators, clinicians, policymakers, and families to advance understanding of literacy development and ensure that scientific discoveries meaningfully inform educational practice.