Injuries are the number-one killer of children and young adults in the United States. They are the leading cause of years of potential life lost before age 65. More than 5 million people in the U.S. report suffering from chronic, injury-related disabilities, and the lives of millions of others have been dramatically affected by injuries to themselves or someone they love.

These statistics are staggering. Our goal at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control—CDC’s Injury Center—is to reduce injuries and their resulting deaths and disabilities. We have made a lot of progress, but there is still much to learn and much work to do. Research is needed to provide valuable knowledge for the injury field and to inform our prevention efforts.

In December 2000, the Injury Center embarked on an 18-month process to develop an agenda to guide our research. The agenda articulates our highest priorities—those research questions that we must answer to fulfill our public health responsibilities.

The research agenda focuses on answering questions that will have a relatively rapid impact on how we prevent injuries and reduce their consequences. Thus, many of the research issues of highest priority for this agenda relate to evaluating interventions and understanding how to ensure that effective interventions are widely used.

Many people helped develop the research agenda. Injury Center staff worked extensively —planning, writing, discussing, revising. Many individuals from a variety of organizations served on work groups, attended meetings, and reviewed documents. Under the leadership of Dr. Edward Brandt, members of the Research Agenda Steering Committee shared their own thoughtful perspectives that were extremely important in shaping the agenda. Hundreds of others took time to provide comments and participate in discussions that proved vital to the agenda-setting process. The names of individuals who were most involved in the process are listed in the acknowledgments. CDC extends a grateful thank you to all who generously gave of their knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and time.

Implementing this agenda will be challenging. The funds allocated for injury research and programs are not at all commensurate with the size of the injury problem. But investing in the priorities of this research agenda will make a difference. It will help prevent needless deaths and painful, costly injuries. We look forward to working with the injury prevention and control community to implement this agenda for a safer, healthier nation.

Sue Binder, M.D., Director

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

This page last reviewed September 07, 2006.

Privacy Notice - Accessibility

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control