Panel: Trauma at the Border – 3/04/2019

At the center of contemporary political debate are the record numbers of migrant families and children at the U.S.-Mexico border. As these parents and children flee the trauma of violence in their native countries, they are now experiencing the trauma of navigating an increasingly hostile immigration system. What can neuroscience tell us about the effects of these traumatic experiences on the brains of the children and adults? And how might the neuroscience of trauma and brain development affect legal cases? Can advances in mobile neuroimaging provide practitioners with real-time brain evidence of trauma? Does neuroscience have a larger role to play in shaping our nation’s immigration policies? Join us for this special lunchtime event as we begin a dialogue between scientists and lawyers on neuroscience, trauma, and justice.

This event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided.

Panelists:
Charles Nelson, III, PhD, professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School , and director of research, Developmental Medicine Center, Boston Children’s Hospital

Cindy Zapata, JD, lecturer on law and clinical instructor, Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Harvard Law School; Leader of 2018 HLS student trip to provide legal services to immigrant families separated in the Karnes Detention Center in Texas

Moderator:

Francis X. Shen, PhD, JD, executive director, Harvard Center for Law, Brain & Behavior, Massachusetts General Hospital and senior fellow in law and applied neuroscience, Petrie-Flom Center in Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, Harvard Law School; associate professor of law and McKnight Land-Grant Professor, University of Minnesota Law School