Ab Initio was first published in 1989 as an international interdisciplinary newsletter for professionals working with infants and families. The goal was – as it still is – to present original up-to-date information on research and clinical practice with infants and their families from across the globe. This current issue marks a significant change in Ab Initio as it moves from being an international newsletter to being an international on-line peer-reviewed journal which will appear twice yearly. The current issue reflects this shift and the articles and reports have been assembled by guest editor Elisa Vele-Tabaddor, who received her doctorate in Developmental Psychology from Yeshiva University in New York.

The Feature Articles section includes a study by Joao Gomes Pedro and his colleagues in Portugal on the training of pediatric residents in developmental and behavioral pediatrics. We also include a report by Maria José Alvarez Gómez on her research in Pamplona on the effects of the NBO in a primary care setting. We present a report on gender differences in newborn behavior which was conducted by Carme Costas-Moragas and her colleagues in Barcelona. Jill Fishman, Elisa Vele-Tabaddor and colleagues present data on the effects of the NBO on parent caregiving in the United States.

In the Urbi et Orbi section, which presents brief reports from around the world, Marina Fuertes and her colleagues report from Portugal on the GADIF Model of early intervention, while Japanese researcher Akira Saito examines the relationship between newborn behavior as measured by the NBAS on emotional regulation at the end of the first year of life in a Japanese sample. Joanna Hawthorne, Director of the Brazelton Center in Cambridge England, reports on the Brazelton Centre Conference entitled "Learning from the Baby: New Ways of Working with Parents", which took place in Lady Mitchell Hall at Cambridge University, England.

Finally, we are very pleased to announce that the subject of our interview is Dr. Judith Palfrey, Professor of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Boston and Harvard Medical School, which was conducted by our guest editor, Elisa Vele-Tabaddor. Dr. Palfrey is the author of the recently published and much acclaimed book, "Child Health in America." She directs the Children's International Pediatric Center in the Department of Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston and she discusses her ideas about child health around the world.