Dina C. Castro, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Dr. Castro has 25 years of experience conducting early childhood research, intervention, and program evaluation in the United States and Latin America. She serves as Director of the Center for Early Care and Education Research: Dual Language Learners, funded by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Castro's research focuses on the early care and education of young children who are dual language learners and on children from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, with an emphasis on those living in poverty. She currently serves as Principal Investigator on the study Nuestros Niños Program: Promoting School Readiness for English Language Learners, funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). She also directs a study of child care utilization patterns for Latino families funded by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Castro's previous work includes a national study of early childhood programs’ policies and practices to address the needs of Latino children and their families, an intervention study to promote early language and literacy among Latino Spanish-speaking children, the development and evaluation of a professional development program on cultural and linguistic diversity for early childhood professionals (New Voices ~ Nuevas Voces), and the evaluation of an Early Head Start initiative to support infants and toddlers who are dual language learners. She also has conducted studies of language and literacy development in young children, factors affecting the well-being of Latino immigrant families, and family involvement in Head Start. Dr. Castro has published numerous articles, book chapters, and reports and presents nationally and internationally as an expert on the early care and education of children who are culturally and linguistically diverse. She is originally from Peru and has lived in the United States since 1991.