Debi C. Basu, the Institute's Program Officer for Education and Learning Disabilities, joined the staff in July 2008.

Her work at the Institute focuses on the development and implementation of programs and research agendas on adolescent literacy and learning disabilities. Basu is a published neuroscientist with extensive research experience in brain imaging investigating language, development, and learning. She earned her undergraduate degrees in science and biology from the University of Muenster, Germany, and from Iowa State University. Basu received her master's degree in neuroscience from Georgetown University in 2007.

Basu, also gained international training in adolescent dyslexia research at the University College in London, England, and completed a Harvard University fellowship that focused on functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI. Before joining the Institute, Basu spent time volunteering at an orphanage in East Africa.