Eleventh International Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma

We had another successful conference in Buckhead/Atlanta in September 2010. Over 615 people in attendance from all around the world came together to focus on the prevention, investigation, diagnosis, and support of victims of shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma.

We want to thank the 130 presenters who did over 90 presentations in three days. The opening keynote presentation, The Strange Politics of Child Abuse, was presented by Ross Cheit, JD, PhD. Professor Cheit, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Brown University, has been investigating these issues for more than a decade and shared his experiences and wisdom with our conference participants.

Another crucial component to the conference was the Mock Trial. Legal challenges to the diagnosis of Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) including shaken baby syndrome (SBS) are daily waged in courtrooms across the country. Legal and medical professionals must understand the nature of these challenges, the medical and scientific research upon which such claims are advanced, and the countervailing evidence in order to appropriately present "good science" in the courtroom, educate the court and jurors, and insure that justice is served. This four hour Mock Trial examined these and other "defense challenges" through an array of experiences legal and medical experts in the field who illustrated typical pretrial motion challenges and trial testimony from both the defense and prosecution perspectives. Specific examples were taken from some of the major cases across the country where these challenges have been raised.