John Hutton MD, MS, FAAP

affiliations

Research Interests

Dr. John Hutton is an Associate Professor in the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and formerly Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Prior to this, he owned and managed the independent Blue Manatee Children’s Bookstore for almost 20 years. In addition to over 50 scientific articles, he has published over 40 children’s books, many with health-promoting themes, including reading with infants (SHARE/STEP), dialogic reading, safe sleep, breastfeeding, limiting screen time and how the heart (Hank the Heart) and brain work. He is “spokes-doctor” for the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES campaign, on the national Medical Advisory Board of Reach Out and Read, and co-author (neuroscience lead) of the Technical Manual for American Academy of Pediatrics Literacy Promotion Guidelines. His work has been funded by philanthropy, foundations and the National Institutes of Health.

With his team, Dr. Hutton has published the first studies using MRI to quantify relationships between home reading and screen environments on brain structure and function in preschool-age children. He has also developed and validated measures of emergent literacy (The Reading House) and numeracy skills, shared reading quality (DialogPR, SharePR) and digital media use (ScreenQ). He is collaboratively testing innovative approaches to empowering reading and screen-related guidance for families in diverse settings, including primary care, community and NICU settings, using tools such as specially designed children’s books, animated educational videos for parents and a free mobile app (Reading Bees).

His scientific publications can be accessed via PubMed.gov

Past Research

• Using MRI to quantify impacts of home literacy and screen environments on brain structure and function
• Developing, using and testing specially designed children’s books for health literacy promotion, especially safe sleep and infant calming/crying
• Emergent literacy screening during primary care visits (The Reading House)
• Developing and testing structured approach to reading with infants (SHARE/STEP)
• Implementing an inpatient reading program (Read, Rest, Recover)
• Community-based dialogic and SHARE/STEP “train the trainer” training (Dialogic Doctors)

Ongoing Research

• Emergent literacy screening during primary care visits (The Reading House)
• Developing and testing structured approach to reading with infants (SHARE/STEP)
• Validating an early numeracy screening measure (The Number Farm)
• Using a children’s book for safe sleep guidance
• Testing a free mobile app providing guidance, awards and resources for families in diverse geographic contexts (Reading Bees)

Future Research

• Using MRI to quantify impacts of digital media use on cognitive and social-emotional development in preschool-age children.
• Testing various approaches to safe sleep education in a large hospital network.
• A clinical trial involving emergent literacy screening and guidance from age 3 through kindergarten entry.