John Colombo, Ph.D.
- Professor of Psychology
- Director, Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute
Contact Info
Lawrence
1000 Sunnyside Ave
Lawrence, KS 66045
Biography —
I'm originally from New York City and, as a first-generation college student, I changed majors at least 5 times. No matter where I roamed intellectually, however, I kept coming back to the field of psychology and I am happy to have made my professional career there. I was trained as a developmental psychologist at the University of Buffalo (UB) under Jack Meacham (memory) and Bob Bundy (psychophysiology), and was heavily influenced by psychologists at UB who were studying perceptual organization (Irv Biederman, Naomi Weisstein, and Jim Pomerantz) and CNS recovery (Mark Kristal). After getting my PhD, I spent a year teaching at Youngstown State University before coming to KU as a postdoctoral trainee in Frances Horowitz' lab. I've have been here ever since, joining the faculty in 1988, but periodically changing jobs to keep things interesting. I have always been interested in the disproportionate influence of early experience on behavior over the lifespan, and I have moved steadily toward neuroscience and neurodevelopment over the last 30 years. I love my family, my friends and colleagues, guitars (I was a touring musician for a while and have hearing loss to prove it), woodworking, baseball (an inveterate Mets fan), and green chile.
Education —
Specialization
- Developmental cognitive neuroscience of attention, learning, and executive function in in infancy and early childhood
- Long-term effects of early experience on development:
- Developmental research design and quantitative methods
Research —
My research involves the measurement and evaluation of neurocognitive development in infancy and early childhood. This work has led me to the design and implementation of clinical trials evaluating the effects of prenatal and postnatal nutrients and micronutrients on the development of cognitive function in infants and children. My work has been funded continuously for over 40 years by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, private foundations, and industry,
- Developmental cognitive neuroscience
- Nutrition and cognitive development
- Attention
- Developmental origins of health and disease
- Autonomic function and behavior
- Developmental systems theory
- Developmental research design and quantitative methods
- Individual differences in cognition in infancy and early childhood
Teaching —
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
- Cognitive Development
- Developmental Psychology
- Research Methods
Selected Publications —
Colombo J, Shaddy DJ, Gustafson K, Gajewski BJ, Thodosoff JM, Kerling EH, *Carlson SE. (2019). The Kansas University DHA Outcomes Study (KUDOS) clinical trial: Long-term neurodevelopmental follow-up of prenatal DHA supplementation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 109(5), 1380-1392. PMID: 31004139, PMCID: PMC6499507 https://doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqz018
Gustafson KM, Liao K, Mathis NB, Shaddy DJ, Kerling EH, Christifano DN, Colombo J, Carlson SE. (2020). Prenatal docosahexaenoic acid supplementation has long-term effects on childhood behavioral and brain responses during performance on an inhibitory task. Nutritional Neuroscience, Jan 20:1-11. PMID: 31957558, PMCID: PMC7369249, https://doi.org/10.1080/1028415X.2020.1712535
Colombo J, Harris CL, Wampler JL, Zhuang W, Shaddy DJ, Liu BY, Wu SS. (2023) Improved neurodevelopmental outcomes at 5.5 years of age in children who received bovine mfgm and lactoferrin in infant formula through 12 months of age: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Pediatrics, May 14:113483. PMID: 37192722, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2023.113483
Cuevas K, Adler SA, Barr R, Colombo J, Gerhardstein P, Hayne H, Hunt PS, Richardson R. (2024) Commentary on the scientific rigor of Sen and Gredebäck's simulation: Why empirical parameters are necessary to build simulations. Child Development, 95(2):331-337.Epub 2023 Dec 23. PMID: 38140889, doi: 10.1111/cdev.14062
Cuevas K, Colombo J. (2025). Two decades of infant learning research: History, state of the field, and future directions. Infant Behavior and Development, 80, 102068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102068
Christifano DN, Liao K, Mathis NB, Carlson SE, Colombo J, Chollet-Hinton L, Gustafson KM. (2025). Neuroprotective nutrients in pregnancy and infant brain function Clinical nutrition ESPEN, S2405-4577(25)00328-6. Advance online publication. PMID: 40412614
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2025.05.030
Colombo J, Shaddy DJ, Mathis N, Christifano DN, Brown AR, Gajewski BJ, Carlson SE, Gustafson KM. (2025, in press). Effects of prenatal DHA dose on infant visual attention. Developmental Psychobiology. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.70072
Selected Presentations —
Lazarte F, Colombo J, Lonnerdal B, Slupsky C, Murguia-Peniche T, Heckmann AB, et al. (2022). Long term impact of bovine milk fat globule membrane supplementation during infancy on executive functions at 14 years of age. European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Fortin-Miller S, Hull H, Carlson SE, Kerling E, Colombo J. (2022). Early added sugars and fructose intake and child body composition. Presented at the American Society for Nutrition.
Chen Y, Kuang T, Zhang T, Cai YS, Colombo J, Harper A, Gulliver J, Hansell AL, Han T-L, Zhang H, Baker PN. (2023) Associations of early pregnancy air pollution with adverse birth outcomes and infant neurocognitive development. 35th Annual Conference of International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), Taipei, Taiwan
Mannella S, Shaddy DJ, al-Zaghloul N, Mathis N, Davinson K, Fleming K, Colombo J, Cuevas K. (2025) Reliability of individual differences in contingency learning at 6 months. Society for Research Development, Minneapolis, MN.
Merzougui M, Ghali S, Colombo J. (2025). Assessing young, bilingual, autistic Arabic-English speaking children's language outcomes: Preliminary findings from caregiver report. American Speech-Language-Hearing Convention, Washington, DC
Awards & Honors —
- J. Michael Young Outstanding Academic Advisor Award for the Social Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Kansas (2001)
- Outstanding Graduate and Professional Mentor, Graduate and Professional Student Association, University of Kansas (2002)
- Chancellor’s Award for Graduate and Professional Mentoring, Graduate and Professional Student Association, University of Kansas (2002)
- Fellow, Division 7, American Psychological Association (2002)
- Fellow, American Psychological Society (2003)
- Recognition for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Kansas. Nominated and elected to receive this award by graduate students in the Department of Psychology (2005)
- Translational Research Award (Career Award for Translating Basic Research to Application) International Congress on Infant Studies https://infantstudies.org/award-recipients/ (2022)
- Balfour Jeffrey Award for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, University of Kansas, https://kansasalumnimagazine.org/magazine-article/ku-university-research-awards-2024/ (2024)
- Nominee, Outstanding Educator, University of Kansas Honors Program (2025)
Grants & Other Funded Activity —
1981-1982, NIMH, R03 MH14368, Co-PI, $22,500
1986-1987, NIMH, R03 MH41395, PI, $22,500
1989-1990, NIMH, R03 MH43246, PI, $37,500
1989-1991, March of Dimes #12-89, PI, $37,000
1990-1991, NIMH, Supplementary Equipment Grant, Co-PI, $20,000
1993-1997, NICHD, R01 HD29960, PI, $362,024
1998-2003, NICHD, R01 HD35903, PI, $741,876
2002-2013, NIDCD, P30 DC005803, Co-PI, $3,868,851
2003-2005, NSF, 0318072, PI, $190,214
2003-2007, Mead Johnson Nutrition, MJN3370-4, Co-PI, $1,594,814
2004-2009, NICHD, R01HD045430, Co-PI, $1,863,577
2005-2007, NSF, 0521860, Co-PI, $199,941
2006-2017, NICHD, R01 HD047315, Co-PI/MPI, $4,924,684
2007-2012, NICHD, T32 HD007525, Co-PI, $1,059,652
2008-2021, NICHD, P30 HD02528/U54HD090216, PI, $17,350,199
2009-2011, NICHD, R21 HD059019, $275,000
2009-2011, NIMH, R03 MH084061, $139,636
2012-2014, Mead Johnson Nutrition 6021, PI, $193,575
2014-2016, Mead Johnson Nutrition, 6023, PI, $243,743
2015-2016, NICHD, K99 HD725886, PI/Mentor, $390,231
2016-2021, NICHD, R01 HD086001, Co-PI, $3,774,865
2015-2020, Mead Johnson Nutrition 6077, PI, $434,655
2019-2021, NICHD, U54 HD090216 (Supplement), PI, $776,186
2020-2025, NICHD, K99 HD101500, PI/Mentor, $390,231
2020-2025, NICHD, R13 HD102142, PI, $50,000
2020-2025, Société des Produits Nestlé S.A,, MNUT101250, $449,703
2020-2025, Fonterra Brands/South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute, $230,550
2023-2028, NICHD, R01 HD103738, $3,811,996
Service —
- Director, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, 2008-present
- Acting Chair, Department of Psychology, 2005-2006
- Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, 2016-2019
- Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2019-2023
- Associate editor, Child Development (2006-2013)
- Editor, Infancy (2013-2018)
Memberships —
- Youngstown State University Research Professorship. (1982)
- Postdoctoral Traineeship. University of Kansas (1982)
- Election to Sigma Xi (1983)
- Election to The Psychonomic Society (1988)
- Charter Member, American Psychological Society (1989)