Dr. Katie Travis is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist whose research focuses on improving outcomes for some of the most vulnerable among us: children born preterm. Here she sits down with Anirvan Ghosh to discuss how early life experiences—everything from a baby’s first sensory encounters to complex medical interventions—shape the developing brain and influence long-term outcomes. She also discusses the critical importance of sustained federal funding and being able to recruit the best people from around the world to drive this work forward, and the threat it is facing today.