Safeguarding Brains: the law, science & ethics of the concussive injury epidemic

The United States is currently facing a “concussion epidemic.” Concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injuries, have increased in numerous settings, including transportation accidents, military combat, workplace injuries, domestic abuse, falls, and sports. This conference will explore the current scientific advances in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of concussion, as well as the enormous legal and ethical implications of those advances on questions of risk and loss distribution in society.

This event provides an extremely valuable and timely educational opportunity for judges, attorneys, scientists, policymakers, physicians, specialists such as neuropsychologists, ophthalmologists and audiologists, educators, social workers, students, coaches, athletic trainers, scholars, journalists, products manufacturers, sports fans, and more.

The conference will feature a balanced, multidisciplinary set of leading experts from across the nation who can provide a range of scientific, legal and ethical perspectives on the latest and predicted developments in neuroscience, genetics, and clinical treatment of concussive brain injury to address how these developments could be used more effectively to respond to the epidemic of concussive injury. The ultimate goal of the conference is to educate the audience on the legal, policy and ethical implications of the research advances as applied to the justice system, education system, and public policy generally.