Demystifying child development is a defining element of pediatric care, and pediatricians have long appreciated the profound influences that families and communities have on both child development and life course trajectories. Dramatic advances in the basic sciences of development are beginning to reveal the biologic mechanisms underlying well-established associations between a spectrum of childhood adversities and less than optimal outcomes in health, education and economic productivity. Pediatricians are well positioned to translate this new knowledge into both practice and policy, but doing so will require unprecedented levels of collaboration with educators, social service providers, and policy makers.
