By David Orenstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 3, 2021
A powerful series of speakers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory’s biennial Spring Symposium, Early Life Stress and Mental Health, blended personal stories and rigorous research to demonstrate that while remedying the lifelong toxic stress and disadvantage many people incur during childhood can be difficult, it is by no means intractable.
Picower Institute Director Li-Huei Tsai opened the symposium, co-produced with the JPB Foundation led by Barbara Picower, with the observation that while problems such as poverty, racism, injustice, and child abuse have been around for a long time, finding and implementing ways to fight the health problems that can result has become increasingly urgent.
“This feels especially so right now, as we grapple with a time in which many of us have seen young people endure historic stresses,” she said. “The many tragedies and disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic and stark examples of racial and social injustice have made this a particularly difficult time to grow up.”
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