Google gives $3 million to Nadine Burke Harris’ Bayview clinic (San Francisco, CA)

Google’s philanthropic arm will give $3 million to pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris’ Bayview clinic, which has earned international acclaim for its work linking the physical ailments of low-income children to their traumatic experiences.

The three-year grant is a boon for Burke Harris’ Center for Youth Wellness, which has a $5 million annual budget. The facility focuses on what is known as adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress — issues like neglect, abuse, exposure to violence and household dysfunction that can damage a child’s developing brain and body. Burke Harris said that 1 in 10 of the children she sees has experienced not just one of those traumas, but four or more.

Bet on intervention

The issue has been studied for more than a quarter century by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and elsewhere, but has recently attracted more attention. Even though Burke Harris’ work has been lauded by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — who featured the doctor in a video for her Too Small to Fail philanthropic campaign last year — funders say it has been a challenge raising enough money to further test and expand the center’s work.

Google’s philanthropic branch is making the type of big-dollar bet that Silicon Valley entrepreneurs often place on nascent technologies.

To read the rest of the story by Joe Garofoli, go to:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/...e-Harris-5865372.php