167146 Promise and pitfalls of using neuroscience research to inform adolescent health policy

Tuesday, November 6, 2007: 10:50 AM

Sara Johnson, PhD, MPH , Dept. of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Baltimore, MD
        
This presentation will briefly outline what is known about brain development and change in adolescence and early adulthood. We will then discuss examples of the use of this research to inform adolescent policy; in particular, we will focus on the debate over using neuroscience research to overturn the death penalty for juvenile offenders and its implications for other adolescent health policies (e.g., reproductive health policies). Finally, this session will cover the difficulty linking structural changes with functional and behavioral changes, as well as predicting functioning in any given adolescent.

Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to identify one way in which the brain changes or develops in adolescence. Participants will be able to discuss one limitation of using research on brain development to inform adolescent health policy.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Children & Adolescent Health: Is Policy Failing Our Kids?
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