On this special episode of Pathways from the New York State Trauma-Informed Network and Resource Center, Dr. Elizabeth Meeker welcomes Dr. Nadine Burke Harris for a rich discussion on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their profound impact on long-term health outcomes. As a medical doctor (pediatrician and first Surgeon General of California), Dr. Burke Harris shares her journey of understanding how childhood trauma affects biological development. 

Key topics of this episode include:

• Expanding our understanding of adversity beyond the original 10 ACE categories
• The groundbreaking ACEs study, published in 1998, and its findings about childhood adversity
• How toxic stress affects – and changes – brain, immune, and hormonal systems
• The relationship between childhood experiences and lifelong health risks like stroke and heart disease 
• Methods for regulating and treating the toxic stress response