CORE Lab

About the CORE Lab

The COntextualized Research for Equity in Child and Adolescent Development Lab (CORE Lab) at SDSU, directed by Dr. Jane Leer, conducts rigorous research examining how the contexts that children and adolescents live, learn, and play in shape their development. The goal of our research is to understand and address some of our world’s most critical problems, including racial and socioeconomic housing and health disparities, intergenerational poverty, and educational inequities.

Our research is community-engaged and policy-relevant. We partner with non-profits and government agencies to support youth development using a contextualized, strengths-based perspective spanning multiple cultural contexts (in the US and globally), developmental phases (early childhood through emerging adulthood), and outcomes (mental health, educational attainment and achievement, and intergroup dynamics).