Author: Laura Godenick, TICN Program Coordinator
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was recently appointed as the Surgeon General for California on February 11th, 2019. This will be the first time that California has appointed anyone for this position. Dr. Harris is a national leader in pediatric medicine. She is the founder and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) and has focused her career on understanding the links between toxic stress in children, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and how these factors often lead to serious health problems later in life.
There is a consensus among the scientific community that the combination of ACES and toxic stress in childhood lead to serious health problems in adulthood. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris will be key in helping to combat these social determinants of health through urging policymakers to consider them in their decision-making process. She is the author of several books and also serves on several boards in the Bay Area. See the full-length article here.