FamilyViolence

Family Violence Recognition Lab

Early recognition and secondary prevention for family violence (including especially child abuse, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse) depends on emergency clinicians. In partnership with the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, our lab studies recognition and care for families dealing with violence. Our focus is making care more effective, fair, safe, and reliable.

Our work focuses on:
  • Fast MRI: to improve recognition and understanding of pediatric traumatic brain injury 
  • Overlapping family violence: to determine the best methods to improve safety for people living with violence and abuse
  • Injury detection in child physical abuse: including fractures, abdominal injuries, poisonings, brain injuries and eye injuries.
  • Multi-center networks of child abuse pediatricians: including “Using Liver Transaminases to Recognize Abuse [ULTRA]; Examining Siblings To Recognize Abuse [ExSTRA]; and CAPNET

The Lab is the home of CAPNET – an NIH funded national network dedicated to improving the care provided by child abuse pediatricians.

Our Team

Picture of Dan Lindberg

Daniel Lindberg, MD
Emergency Medicine

Picture of Kathleen Adelgais

Kathleen Adelgais, MD, MPH/MSPH
Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Picture of Ligia Batista-Silverman

Ligia Batista-Silverman
Program Coordinator

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Elizabeth Bloemen
Elder Maltreatment Researcher

Picture of Antonia Chiesa

Antonia Chiesa, MD
Child Abuse Pediatrics Researcher 

Picture of Joe Grubenhoff

Joe Grubenhoff, MD
Pediatric Emergency Medicine 

Picture of Terri Lewis

Terri Lewis, PhD
Child Maltreatment Researcher 

Picture of Angie Miller

Angie Miller, MD
Pediatric Radiology 

Picture of David Mirsky

David Mirsky, MD
Pediatric Radiology 

Picture of Rebecca Orsi

Rebecca Orsi, PhD
Child Protection Researcher 

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Jessi Panks
Child Abuse Pediatrics Researcher

Picture of Nicholas Stence

Nicholas Stence, MD
Pediatric Radiology 

  1. Lindberg DM, Shapiro RA, Laskey AL, Pallin DJ, Blood EA, Berger RP for the ExSTRA Investigators. Prevalence of Abusive Injuries in Siblings and Household Contacts of Physically Abused Children. Pediatrics 2012;130(2):193-201. Named #1 among the Top 10 Pediatric Emergency Medicine Articles 2011-2012 by Michelle D. Stevenson, MD MS FAAP, at the October 21, 2012 AAP National Conference and Exhibition.
  2. Lindberg DM, Harper NS, Laskey AL and Berger RP for the ExSTRA investigators. Prevalence of Abusive Fractures of the Hands, Feet, Spine or Pelvis on Skeletal Survey:  Perhaps “Uncommon” is More Common Than Suggested. Pediatric Emergency Care 2013;29(1)26-29.
  3. Lindberg DM, Shapiro RA, Blood EA, Steiner RD and Berger RP for the ExSTRA Investigators. Utility of Hepatic Transaminases in Children With Concern for Abuse. Pediatrics 2013;131(2):268-275
  4. Harper NS, Eddelman S, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. The Utility of Follow-Up Skeletal Surveys in Child Abuse. Pediatrics 2013;131(3):e672-e678.
  5. Greiner MV, Berger RP, Thackeray J and Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators.  Utility of Dedicated Retinal Examination in Children Evaluated for Physical Abuse without Radiographically Identified Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Pediatrics 2013:163(2);527-531. Recognized as one of the top research articles of 2013 at the O.S.C.A.R.S. lecture – Chris Greeley.  San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment.
  6. Deye KP, Berger RP, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Occult Abusive Injuries in Infants with Apparently Isolated Skull Fractures. Journal of Trauma. 2013;74: 1553-1558.
  7. Lindberg DM, Blood EA, Campbell KA, Laskey AL, Berger RP for the ExSTRA Investigators.  Predictors of Screening and Injury in Contacts of Physically Abused Children. Journal of Pediatrics 2013;163(3):730-5.e3.
  8. Schwartz KA, Metz J, Feldman K, Sidbury R, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Cutaneous Findings Mistaken for Physical Abuse: Present, but not Pervasive. Pediatric Dermatology 2014;31(2):146-155
  9. Lindberg DM, Berger RP, Reynolds MS, Alwan RM, Harper NS for the ExSTRA Investigators. Yield of Skeletal Survey by Age in Children Referred to Abuse Specialists. J. Pediatrics 2014 Jun;164(6):1268-73.
  10. Metz J, Schwartz KA, Feldman KW, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators.  Non-Cutaneous Conditions Clinicians Might Mistake for Abuse.  Archives of Disease in Childhood 2014 Sep; 99(9):817-23.
  11. Harper NS, Feldman KW, Sugar NF, Anderst J, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Additional Injuries in Young Infants with Concern for Abuse and Apparently Isolated Bruises.  J. Pediatrics 2014 Aug;165(2):383-388
  12. Martindale J, Swenson A, Coffman J, Newton AW, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Recurrent Concerns for Child Abuse: Repeated Consultations by a Subspecialty Child Abuse Team. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2014 Jul;38(7):1259-66.
  13. Harper NS, Lewis T, Eddleman S, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Follow-up Skeletal Survey Use by Child Abuse Pediatricians. 2015 Child Abuse & Neglect. Published online 9-3-2015. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.08.015.
  14. Lindberg DM, Beaty B, Juarez-Colunga E, Wood JN, Runyan DK. Testing for Abuse in Children with Sentinel Injuries. Pediatrics. Published online October 5, 2015. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-1487.
  15. Thackeray J, Wannemacher J, Adler B, and Lindberg DM.  The Classic Metaphyseal Lesion and Traumatic Injury. Pediatric Radiology 2016 46(8) 1128-1133. 
  16. Pawlick M-C, Kemp A, Maguire S, Nuttall D, Feldman K, Lindberg DM. Children with burns referred for child abuse evaluation: Burn characteristics and co-existent injuries. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal 55 (2016). pp 52-61. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.03.006.
  17. Lindberg DM, Runyan DK. Improving upon clinical judgment in abuse case finding. Pediatrics (2016) 138 (1) e20161190.
  18. Narang S, Greenberg S, Estrada C, Lindberg DM. The Level of Acceptance of Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma as Medical Diagnoses. J. Pediatrics 2016 177 273-8.
  19. Melville JD, Hertz SK, Steiner RD, Lindberg DM. Use of Imaging in Children with Witnessed Physical Abuse. Pediatric Emergency Care 2017 Mar 13th.  ePub ahead of print.  PMID: 28291153.             
  20. Lindberg DM, Wood JN, Campbell KA, Scribano PV, Laskey A, Leventhal JM, Pierce MC, and Runyan DK. Research Priorities for a Multi-Center Child Abuse Pediatrics Network – CAPNET. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2017 65 p.152-157.
  21. Lindberg DM and Scribano PV. A Child Abuse Research Network: Now What? Child Abuse & Neglect. 2017 published online April 22, 2017 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.04.010 
  22. Dorfman MV, Metz JB, Feldman KW, Farris R, and Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Oral Injuries and Occult Harm in Children Evaluated for Abuse. Archives of Disease in Childhood. Nov 4, 2017. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2017-313400.
  23. Henry MK, French B, Feudtner C, Zonfrillo MR, Lindberg D, Anderst JD, Berger RP, and Wood JN. Cervical Spine Imaging and Injuries in Young Children With Non-Motor Vehicle Crash-Associated Traumatic Brain Injury. Pediatric Emergency Care. 2018 Feb 15. doi:10.1097/PEC.0000000000001455.
  24. Tiyyagura G, Berger RP, Christian C, Lindberg D, for the ExSTRA Investigators. Occult Abusive Injuries in Children Brought for Care after Intimate Partner Violence: an Exploratory Study. Child Abuse & Neglect, The International Journal. Vol 79 p. 136-143 February 20, 2018. doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.02.003 
  25. Lindberg DM. Bias and Objectivity When Evaluating Social Risk Factors for Physical Abuse: of Babies and Bathwater. The Journal of Pediatrics. March 15th, 2018. https://doi.org10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.02.010 
  26. Boehnke M, Mirsky D, Stence N, Stanley RM, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Occult Head Injury is Common in Children with Concern for Physical Abuse. Pediatric Radiology. doi.org/10.1007/s00247-018-4128-6, April 13, 2018
  27. Berger RP and Lindberg DM. Early Recognition of Physical Abuse: Bridging the Gap between Knowledge and Practice. The Journal of Pediatrics. 2019 Jan, 204:16-23. doi: 10.1016/ j.jpeds.2018.07.081. PMID: 30268403
  28. Wood JN, Henry MK, Berger RP, Lindberg DM, Anderst JD, Song L, Localio R, and Feudtner C. Use and Utility of Skeletal Surveys to Evaluate for Occult Fractures in Young Injured Children. Academic Pediatrics. August 16th, 2018. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2018.08.007
  29. Afifi TO, Brown S, Dube SR, Emery C, Fraser J, Jud A, Lindberg D, Theron L, Wekerle C. Putting Children First: When trauma research and governmental policy collides. Child Abuse Negl. 2018 Sep;83:A1-A2. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.07.035. PMID: 30122237
  30. Bennett V, Maguire S, Nuttall D, Lindberg DM, Moulton S, Bajaj L, Kemp A, and Mullen S. First Aid for Children’s Burns in the US and UK: An Urgent Call to Establish and Promote International Standards. Burns. 2018. doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2018.09.003
  31. Lindberg DM, Dubowitz H, Alexander RC, and Reece RM. The “New Science” of Abusive Head Trauma. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice. 2019 doi:10.1007/s42448-019-00021-w 
  32. Feldman KW, Lindberg DM for the ExSTRA Investigators. Clinically occult abusive head trauma: which age group should we screen? Pediatric Radiology 2019. doi:10.1007/s00247-019-04477-3
  33. Lindberg DM, Stence NV, Grubenhoff JA, Lewis T, Mirsky DM, Miller AL, O’Neill BR, Grice K, Mourani PM, and Runyan DK. Feasibility and Accuracy of Fast MRI versus CT for Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Children. Pediatrics 2019 144(4) pages e20190419. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-0419
  34. Melville JD and Lindberg DM. A Novel Scale to Communicate Perceived Likelihood of Child Sexual Abuse. Academic Pediatrics. 2019 doi:10.1016/j.acap.2019.12.010. 
  35. Tiyyagura G, Bloemen EM, Berger RP, Rosen T, Harris T, Jeter G, and Lindberg DM. Seeing the Forest in Family Violence Research: Moving to a Family-Centered Approach. Academic Pediatrics. 2020 doi:10.1016/j.acap.2020.01.010
  36. Miller AJ, Narang S, Scribano P, Greeley C, Berkowitz C, Leventhal JM, Frasier L, and Lindberg DM. Ethical Testimony in Cases of Suspected Child Maltreatment: the Ray E. Helfer Society Guidelines. Academic Pediatrics. 2020 doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2020.02.011
  37. Bloemen EM, Rosen AE, Lindberg DM, and Krugman RD. How Experiences of Child Abuse Pediatricians and Lessons Learned may Inform Health Care Providers Focusing on Improving Elder Abuse Geriatrics Clinical Practice and Research. Journal of Family Violence. 2020 in press.
  38. Henry MK, Feudtner C, Fortin K, Lindberg DM, Anderst JD, Berger RP, and Wood JN. Occult Head Injuries in Infants Evaluated for Physical Abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, The International Journal. 2020 in press.

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