Brain Science

The efforts of pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris to address of trauma experienced early in life have vaulted her to national attention. In September, Burke Harris earned recognition from the Heinz Foundation for her work to establish a system to screen and treat children who are dealing with toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as abuse, neglect, poverty and violence.

The people who are doing most of the pioneering work to integrate trauma-informed, resilience-building practices based on ACEs research (writ large) are doing so in cities and counties across the U.S.

The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities hopes to accelerate the movement of brain science into the policies and practices of the nonprofit human-serving sector through a new $2.2 million initiative.

This month, the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities will kick off a multi-million initiative designed to help service providers translate scientific findings around child trauma, toxic stress and developmental brain science into public policy.

San Francisco’s Bayview district is best known for its gun violence, drugs, pollution and poverty, and not much else. But a community health clinic’s radical approach to healing children may change all that by turning the impoverished neighborhood into an epicenter for trauma-informed care.

Here are the slides that Dr. Dipesh Navasaria used during a presentation on childhood brain science and development in Denver at the 2014 Ann Logan Early Childhood Conference.  To view all the slides, please click here.

Professionals and advocates from varied fields including pediatrics, juvenile justice and public health, are hoping California lawmakers pass a resolution acknowledging the harmful effects that ongoing trauma has on a child’s developing brain and body.