New York City Babies and Toddlers Trauma Investigations Conference (2021)
Chaired and organized national forum for discussion and debate covering recent
developments in the diagnosis, investigation, and prosecution of baby and toddler
fatalities and serious physical injuries. Conference attracted more than 400 medical, legal,
judicial, academic, and law enforcement professionals from around the country. Co-sponsors
included the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, NYU School of Medicine,
Department of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, and the NYPD Training Bureau.
Babies and Toddlers Bootcamp: Basics of Pediatric Trauma Investigations (2020)
National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome 2021 Post-Conference Symposium
New York City Babies and Toddlers Trauma Investigations Conference (2019)
Chaired and organized national forum for discussion and debate covering recent
developments in the diagnosis, investigation, and prosecution of baby and toddler fatalities
and serious physical injuries. Conference attracted more than 300 medical, legal, judicial,
academic, and law enforcement professionals from around the country. Co-sponsors
included the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, NYU School of Medicine,
Department of Pediatrics, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and
Yale School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics.
New York City Police Department, Homicide Investigators Course (2022 & 2021)
“Abusive Head Trauma: Investigate for Justice”
New York City Police Department, Special Victims Investigators Course (2022 & 2021)
“Investigating Baby and Toddler Trauma Cases”
Montana County Attorneys Association Summer Conference (2021)
“Abusive Head Trauma Investigations and Prosecutions”
Zero Abuse Project: New Jersey Prosecutor Institute (2021)
“The Importance of a Thorough Investigation in Abusive Head Trauma Prosecutions”
New York Prosecutors Training Institute, Summer College (2020)
“Trauma-Informed Prosecution Project: Abusive Head Trauma”
Babies and Toddlers Investigate for Justice (2020)
Panama City Beach Police Department Homicide Investigators Course
New York Society of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (2020)
“The Role of the Intensivist in Interfacing with the Law and Child Protection in Severe Non-accidental Trauma”
National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators Winter Conference (2019)
“Abusive Head Trauma Cases: Information and Resources for Prosecutors”
New York Women in Law Enforcement Winter Conference (2019)
“Babies and Toddlers Trauma Investigations”
New York City Police Department, Special Victims Investigator Training Course (2019)
“Babies and Toddlers Fatality Investigations”
Penn State College of Medicine 7th Int’l Conference, Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma (2019)
“Babies and Toddlers Trauma Investigations: The Intersection of Law and Medicine”
New York City Police Department, Homicide Investigators Course (2019)
“Babies and Toddlers Fatality Investigations”
Ray E. Helfer Society Institute on Abusive Head Trauma (2018)
“Baby and Toddler Fatality Investigations: Medical Work-up and Testimony”
“Baby and Toddler Medical Investigations: Neuro-Imaging and Multi-disciplinary Child Protection Teams”
American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition (2017)
“Challenges in Court Testimony”
“Rare Disease or Abuse: Child Abuse and Genetic Case-Based Discussion”
29th Annual Crimes Against Children Conference (2017)
“Presenting Abusive Head Trauma Cases to a Jury”
“Child Fatality Investigations”
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (2017)
“Abusive Head Trauma: Intersection of Law and Medicine”
Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Southwest Regional Conference (2017)
“Child Homicide Case Study: Solid Organ Injury and Abusive Head Trauma”
National District Attorney’s Association National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse: Investigating and Prosecuting Abusive Head Trauma Cases (2017)
“Admissions and Confessions”
“Presenting Abusive Head Trauma to a Jury”
American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus Annual Meeting (2017)
“Abusive Head Trauma: Primer and Mock Trial”
Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (2016)
“Lost in Translation: Improving Communication between Doctors and Detectives”
National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome International Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome
“Analyzing a Credible CV and Cross-examining the Elusive Medical Expert” (Orlando, 2018)
“Investigation and Prosecution of Abusive Head Trauma” (Montreal, 2016)
“Child Abuse and Osteogenesis Imperfecta” (Paris, 2014)
“Confessions in Abusive Head Trauma Cases” (Boston, 2012)
“Shaken Baby Syndrome: History, Clinical Presentation, and Medical and Legal Outcome Differences between Male and Female Perpetrators” (Vancouver, 2008)
American Academy of Pediatrics: Imaging of Child Abuse Course (2016)
“Courtroom Testimony: Pearls and Pitfalls”
Osteogenesis Imperfecta Conference, Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns-Hopkins (2013)
“Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Non-accidental Trauma”
The Innocence Project Network Annual Conference (2016 & 2015)
“Finding Common Ground: Assessing Good Practices in SBS/AHT Cases”
National Native American Law Enforcement Association (2016)
“Investigation and Prosecution of Abusive Head Trauma”
For training inquiries, please contact Leigh Bishop here:
Pre-verbal babies and toddlers can’t ask for help when they are injured. Justice in every case demands the highest level of competency from each member of the multi-disciplinary team involved in these investigations.
For donation by check and other correspondence by mail:
Babies and Toddlers, Inc.
Post Office Box 3350
New York, New York 10008-3350
©2021 Babies and Toddlers, Inc. | Created by AMD Birmingham
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Prosecutor Spotlight Article: Leigh Bishop
Association of Prosecuting Attorneys National Publication Lex Enfants
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Leigh Bishop is the President and Founder of Babies and Toddlers, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides training to doctors, lawyers and law enforcement involved in the investigation of serious injuries and deaths of children under the age of 4 years. She served for more than 22 years as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County, New York and for more than 5 years as the Chief of the first-of-its-kind Child Fatality Unit established by the Queens District Attorney’s Office in 2014. Leigh specializes in homicide and assault investigations and prosecutions involving babies and toddlers with Abusive Head Trauma and is nationally recognized as a resource on the relevant medical and legal issues. Leigh is a 1992 graduate from Rhodes College (Memphis, Tennessee) and she is a 1996 graduate from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (Dallas, Texas). Leigh is originally from Birmingham, Alabama. Roll Tide!
Bellevue Hospital Frances L. Loeb Child Protection and Development Center, New York University School of Medicine
To know more about Dr. Vincent J. Palusci, download his profile.
David L. Taub is a partner in the New York office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, the international law firm. David is head of the firm’s Financial Institutions Advisory Practice and is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee. His practice focuses on three core areas: derivatives and financial products, distressed municipal credits and FinTech/blockchain. David is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University (1981), where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa and a graduate of Berkeley Law – – the University of California (1984).
Associate Dean & Professor of Law Joelle Anne Moreno is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Swarthmore College, and most importantly for a native New Yorker, Stuyvesant High School. Before beginning her academic career, she served as a federal prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice.
Professor Moreno is an experienced teacher of Evidence, Scientific and Forensic Evidence, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Law, Criminal Advocacy, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Her research and scholarship focuses on scientific evidence and constitutional criminal justice issues and includes articles that have appeared in a range of legal, medical and scientific journals including Boston University, Florida, Ohio State, Arizona, Penn State, Tulane, Utah, and Akron law reviews, the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, and Pediatric Radiology. As a firm believer that academic work should have real world application, she has examined the public health impact of misusing scientific and medical evidence in the context of child abuse and vaccine refusal. She is a co-author of the Consensus Statement on Abusive Head Trauma in Infants and Young Children (2018) and the recipient of the 2018 Presidential Recognition Award from the Society for Pediatric Radiology. Over the past two decades, she has presented her work at legal, scientific and medical conferences around the world including programs held at Yale, Akron, Houston, William & Mary, Thomas Jefferson, Seton Hall, and Michigan State law schools; meetings of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the judges of the U.S. Court of Claims, the World Vaccine Congress, and the Queens District Attorney’s Office; and the American Medical Association, European Society for Paediatric Radiology, ISPCAN, the American Society for Pediatric Neuroradiology, Inter-CAP, the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, and the Society for Pediatric Radiology. Professor Moreno also serves on the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Multistate Essay Examination Drafting Committee and is a past chair of the AALS Evidence Section.
Mark A. Mittler, MD is the co-director of The Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of Northwell Health. A New York native, Dr. Mittler completed his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Rochester. His neurosurgical residency and chief residency were completed at Brown University, and his fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Mittler is a Clinical Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He is board certified in Neurological Surgery and Pediatric Neurological Surgery. Dr. Mittler serves as the Director of Neurosurgery Quality Assurance of the Northwell Health Department of Neurosurgery. He is the Neurosurgery Liaison for the region’s largest American College of Surgeons verified Pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. In addition to his expertise in brain and spinal injury, Dr. Mittler’s clinical interests span the spectrum of pediatric neurosurgical disorders–including brain and spinal cord tumors, craniosynostosis, hydrocephalus, Chiari malformations, and minimally invasive neurosurgical techniques.
Arthur J. Cooperman served as a State Supreme Court Justice in Queens from 1983-2009. He conducted approximately 500 trials during that time. Previously, he had been a NYC Civil Court Judge from 1980-1982. He had been a member of the NYS Assembly from 1969-1979 and was chairman of its Judiciary Committee for three years. He served as a first lieutenant in the US Army Signal Corps from 1955-1957. He received an LLB from the NYU School of Law in 1960 and a BA from its University College in 1955.
Cindy W. Christian, M.D. holds Anthony A. Latini endowed Chair in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Christian serves as Assistant Dean in the Program for Diversity and Inclusion at the Perelman School of Medicine, supporting students in their community volunteer activities. Dr. Christian completed her pediatric residency and child abuse pediatrics fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she has spent her career. For more than two decades, she directed the child protection program at CHOP. She is a faculty director of the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research at The University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Christian is a past Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, and past chair of the sub-board on Child Abuse and Neglect for the American Board of Pediatrics. From 2010-2015, Dr. Christian served as the first medical director for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services, leading the development of policies and strategies to improve the health of Philadelphia’s dependent children. Dr. Christian has written and lectured extensively on topics related to all forms of child maltreatment.