Studies show that abuse, neglect or trauma during childhood can lead to lifelong struggles including with mental health. Fortunately research also indicates that solutions and interventions at various stages of life can be developed to help. But even among people who remain resilient or do not experience acute stresses, a lack of opportunity early in life due to poverty or systemic racism can still constrain their ability to realize their full potential. In what ways are health and other outcomes affected by early life difficulty? What can individuals and institutions do to enhance opportunity?" "This daylong event will feature talks by neuroscientists, policy experts, physicians, educators and activists as they discuss how our experiences and biology work together to affect how our minds develop and what can be accomplished in helping people overcome early disadvantages.

As questions of race and justice have risen to the fore across the sciences, the ALBA Network has invited Dr Shakir Mohamed (Senior Research Scientist at DeepMind, UK) to provide a keynote speech on Artificial Intelligence and racism, and the implications for scientific research, that will be followed by a discussion chaired by Dr Konrad Kording (Department of Neuroscience at University of Pennsylvania, US - neuromatch co-founder)

Though studies show that abuse, neglect or trauma during childhood can lead to lifelong lifelong struggles including in mental health, research also indicates that solutions and interventions at various stages of life can be developed to help. And while many people manage to remain resilient, a lack of opportunity early in life, including because of poverty and systemic racism, can constrain their ability to realize their full potential. In what ways are health and other outcomes affected? How can systems instead restore opportunity? "The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory's biennial spring symposium, 'Early Life Stress & Mental Health,' will examine these issues. The daylong event will feature talks by neuroscientists, policy experts, physicians, educators and activists as they discuss how our experiences and biology work together to affect how our minds develop and what can be accomplished in helping people overcome early disadvantages.

Black Americans experience diverse racism-related stressors throughout the lifespan. Disproportionately high trauma exposure, economic disadvantage, explicit racism and inequitable treatment are stressors faced by many Black Americans. These experiences have a cumulative negative impact on psychological and physical health. However, little is understood about how experiences of racism, such as discrimination, can mediate health outcomes via their effects on neurobiology. I will present clinical, behavioral, physiological and neurobiological data from Black American participants in the Grady Trauma Project, a longstanding study of trauma conducted in inner-city Atlanta. These data will be discussed in the context of both risk and resilience/adaptation perspectives. Finally, recommendations for future clinical neuroscience research and targets for intervention in marginalized populations will be discussed.