“California is leading the way to address trauma as a public health crisis, and the first step is universal screening.” Read how the ACEs Aware initiative is transforming the practice of medicine across California.

Dr. Burke Harris has broken new ground by recognizing the fundamental impact of trauma on children’s health and mental health. Let’s all take action to ensure that alongside screening, we also take steps to improve the communities where children play and learn.

“If our goal as pediatricians is to advocate for children and to improve wellness, then we need to do whatever we can to reduce their exposure to trauma, and that starts with screening.”

Capitol Weekly explores Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’ first year as California’s first surgeon general, including her work combating the root causes of serious health conditions such as Adverse Childhood Experiences and toxic stress.

The Washington Post included a video of Dr. Nadine Burke Harris discussing ACEs in their list of “11 video op-eds that make you think, and well, maybe cry.”

Amid growing concern about mental health among teens, Oakland health insurer Blue Shield of California has committed $10 million to improve access to mental health services in the state’s public schools.

Adverse childhood experiences, such as violence victimization, substance misuse in the household, or witnessing intimate partner violence, have been linked to leading causes of adult morbidity and mortality. Therefore, reducing adverse childhood experiences is critical to avoiding multiple negative health and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood.

Kaiser Permanente commits $2.75 million to new research to help prevent and mitigate the health effects of adverse childhood experiences, known as ACEs.

Soon after being appointed California’s first-ever surgeon general, Nadine Burke Harris took off on a barnstorming tour across the state to talk about adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress, an issue she calls “the biggest public health crisis facing California today.”

Not long after she finished her medical residency at Stanford University about a decade ago, Nadine Burke Harris got to work as a pediatrician in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.