Preventive Medicine & Community Health
Injury Research and Prevention Group
Project Coordinators:
Marian Passannante, PhD passanna@umdnj.edu
William Halperin, MD MPH DrPH halperwe@umdnj.edu
Mission/Vision:
Injury (both intentional and unintentional) is the leading cause of death among individuals aged 1-44 years of age in the US and ranks in the top 10 causes of death for individuals of all ages (see http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/leadingcauses.html.) Injury is also a major cause of morbidity, including disability (see http://www.cdc.gov/injury/overview/index.html ) Many of the major causes of injury are preventable and public health efforts, such as seat belt and bicycle helmet usage, have been successful in preventing injuries, but additional work is needed to have an impact on the mortality and morbidity profile in the US.
The purpose of this group is to bring together injury researchers from a variety of disciplines, public health practitioners, state and local health departments, non-profit agencies and industry for the purpose of identifying and studying the major causes of and factors associated with injury and associated morbidity and disability in the United States and developing and testing innovative strategies to address the major causes of injury.
The goals of this group are to:
• coordinate and expand multi-disciplinary injury control research projects currently being conducted;
• provide statistical and epidemiologic support for the development and evaluation of injury research and injury control programs;
• translate and disseminate findings through professional publications and the popular media; and
• develop and support an injury curriculum that will be appropriate for health science professionals.
Members of the Injury Research and Prevention Group meet 4-6 times a year to discuss ongoing projects as well as new initiatives. Members may participate in these meetings in-person or via conference call. Work is organized around the following workgroups:
Curriculum Workgroup (led by Marian Passannante, PhD passanna@umdnj.edu)
Fall Prevention (led by Deanna L Gray-Miceli, PhD, APRN, FAANP
dmiceli@rutgers.edu and Martin Zanna, MD martin.zanna@doh.state.nj.us)
Intentional Injury (led by Douglas Boyle, JD PhD Douglas.Boyle@umdnj.edu)
International Health (led by Mark Gregory Robson, PhD, MPH, DrPH (hc)
ROBSON@AESOP.Rutgers.edu
Motor Vehicle and Transportation Injury (led by Marian Passannante, PhD
passanna@umdnj.edu)
Poisoning (led by Steven M Marcus MD marcussm@umdnj.edu)
Traumatic Brain Injury (led by David Livingston MD livingst@umdnj.edu)
Worker Health (led by Betsy Marshall, PhD marshaeli@umdnj.edu and Derek Shendell, D.Env, MPH, shendedg@umdnj.edu")
Work group members include individuals from academic institutions, nonprofit organizations and local and state government in the New Jersey/New York region.
Opportunities for students:
Opportunities are available for students to work on a variety of projects. Financial support is currently limited to federal work-study positions.
Opportunities for volunteers:
The Injury Research and Prevention Group invites participation from individuals and groups interested in intentional and unintentional injury.
Contact: Marian R. Passannante, PhD passanna@umdnj.edu
Date Revised: 11/2011