About

Dr. Melissa Libertus’s research focuses on the development of mathematical thinking from infancy into adulthood. Her Kids’ Thinking Lab studies the earliest foundations of numerical understanding in infancy and how parents support their children’s
mathematical development throughout early and middle childhood. She has developed interventions to improve children’s math skills focusing on children’s cognitive skills that support math and age-appropriate and fun activities that parents can do with their
children.

Dr. Libertus earned her B.Sc. in Cognitive Science from the University of Osnabrück in Germany, and her PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience from Duke University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychological and Brain
Sciences before joining the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh as an Assistant Professor. She spent 13 years at the University of Pittsburgh rising through the ranks before moving to Case Western Reserve University in 2026. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and various foundations.