Baltimore’s pervasive gun violence both inflames the trauma that shadows many residents … and is caused by that trauma. Dr. Tracy Bale of the University of Maryland med school researches how adverse experiences shape the way our brains work--why, for instance, a child on high alert after gunshots in the neighborhood is not focusing in school. She said she and other scientists are:

“Trying to understand the biology in how we might intervene both in prevention but also in therapy, to think about how that biology has altered how their brain functions in a setting such as school.”

We ask Bale and Shantay Jackson, director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, about the interplay of trauma and personal responsibility.

Trauma summit, Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, CDC: How Epigenetics work.

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