For this issue of Ab Initio, guest editor Elisa Vele-Tabaddor and I are very pleased to present an interview with Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Julius B. Richmond Professor of Child Health and Development at Harvard School of Public Health and Founding Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard. Dr. Shonkoff's formative contribution to the field of early intervention has been recognized not only by researchers and policy makers in the field of infancy, but by professionals from a wide range of disciplines who are working with parents and infants. He is one of the great advocates for children with disabilities in our time and is increasingly concerned with promoting what he calls "A more productive partnerships between academic researchers and service providers." In this interview he reminds readers of the need for intervention services that are grounded in "state of the art knowledge" and underscores the importance of evidence-based practice and the need to build a stronger science base to close the gap "between what we know and what we do."

We present three feature articles in this issue, which have implications for early intervention and for public health policy. Dr. Sharon Sagiv and her colleagues used the NBAS to examine the effects of pollutants among infants born to mothers residing near a PCB-contaminated harbor. Since the serum PCB levels in this study population were generally low, the authors discuss the importance of instituting prevention efforts designed to promote healthy subsequent neurodevelopment for these infants. Dr. Elisa Vele-Tabaddor and her colleague Dr. Ronit Kahana-Kalman present data on an innovative videotape analysis intervention program conducted with a sample of mothers and their children who were enrolled in an urban Early Head Start Program. Results suggest that this relationship-based intervention was successful in improving maternal responsiveness in this ten-month follow-up study. In the third report, Yvette Blanchard and her colleagues conducted a study to see how this NBO-based training program would benefit clinicians working with newborns and their families. Before using the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system in clinical practice, professionals learn the theoretical foundations of this approach and are trained and certified in its administration. This study showed that the NBO training program increased participant's level of confidence in providing information to parents and enhanced their sense of confidence in their ability to use the NBO to develop a relationship with parents.

In the Urbi et Orbi section, which describes research and clinical activities from settings around the world, this issue presents a preview of some NBAS related presentations which will be delivered at the World Association for Infant Mental Health Conference to be held in Yokahama, Japan from August 1 - 4, 2008. From the UK, Dr. Joanna Hawthorne discusses the professional training activities of the UK Brazelton Center. Finally, from the United States, Dr. Samantha Berkule and her colleagues at the New York University School of Medicine describe their video interaction intervention model, designed to strengthen the mother-child attachment relationship among low SES, at-risk ethnically diverse families.

We are also happy to introduce a new column, "Ab Origine" which provides a forum for readers to share their clinical experiences with readers. In this issue, three clinicians from the field, Shirley Hobbs, a visiting nurse from the Palm Beach County Florida, Head Start Program, Paraguayan-born Psychologist Marina Carrizosa Ramos from Project Eagle Head Start in Kansas City and Sarah Muller, Touchpoints Trainer at the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Services outreach program in East Harlem, New York describe their use of the NBAS and the NBO in their work with infants and families.