Bruce McCandliss, a psychologist at the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology and associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, is a 2007 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government for outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.

McCandliss, who accepted the award at a Nov. 1 ceremony at the White House, uses brain imaging and other techniques to study the biological basis for language development and dysfunction in developmental disorders.

He is also co-founder of Reading Works, a program to help New York City public elementary school students with basic reading skills. The program uses computers to teach reading skills based on insights from cognitive neuroscience research. Children involved in the program, which consists of 20 40-minute sessions over a period of several months, demonstrate average improvements of 1.2 grade levels in reading.

The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, established in 1996, honors the most promising researchers in the nation within their fields. Selection for the award is based on innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and community service.