A.J. Schwichtenberg, associate professor of human development and family science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, is the 2026 recipient of the International Congress of Infant Studies Translational Research Award. The honor recognizes scientists who have successfully moved basic research on early human development from the laboratory into applied settings, positively impacting infants and families, and highlights career-long contributions to translational science in infancy.
In her research, Dr. Schwichtenberg assesses how sleep and biosocial processes are developmentally consequential for children and families. Her work includes behavioral, genetic, neurologic, and contextual elements of sleep, with a recent focus on how sleep dysregulation may share a mechanistic pathway with neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.
At Purdue, Dr. Schwichtenberg is affiliated with the departments of human development and family science, psychological sciences, and speech, language, and hearing sciences. She currently directs the university’s Sleep and Developmental Studies Laboratory. Earlier in her tenure, she was an inaugural co-director of the Purdue Autism Research Center.
Dr. Schwichtenberg earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and communications from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in human development and family studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed postdoctoral training at the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopment Disorders Institute at the University of California, Davis.