RFBerlin Public Lecture

Investing in Child Mental Health: Implications for Human Capital Development

RFBerlin Annual Public Lecture by Janet Currie

Time: 16:00 – 18:00, Tuesday 20 October 2026

Location: Lecture Hall 201, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Spandauer Straße 1, 10178 Berlin

Every year RFBerlin organises a public lecture. Following the success of our previous guests, David Card and Claudia Goldin, we are delighted to announce the third one, held in collaboration with Humboldt University of Berlin.

This year we welcome Janet Currie, a pioneer in the economic analysis of child development and one of today’s most influential voices in public and health economics.

Janet Currie is the David Swensen Professor of Economics at Yale University, co-director of the Tobin-Cowles Health Economics and Policy Program, and co-director of the Program on Families and Children at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the British Academy.
Currie is a pioneer in the economic analysis of child development. Her research spans the long-run effects of child health and welfare programmes, environmental threats to children’s wellbeing, socioeconomic disparities in access to health care, the economics of mental health, and the role of physician decision-making in producing unequal outcomes.

Lecture title

Investing in Child Mental Health: Implications for Human Capital Development

The youth mental health crisis has been called the “defining public health crisis of our time.” Yet we have little consistent data on it. As a result, we know little about the roots of this crisis, how it has changed over time, or how youth mental health responds to social change or policy. This lecture offers first answers to these questions. It concludes that the crisis is long-standing, but that effective solutions exist.

Event Details

A Q&A session will follow the lecture, providing attendees the chance to engage directly with the speaker.

Seats are limited. We recommend registering to secure your spot.