Injury Research Center Receives $4.5 Million to Continue Its Work

The Medical College of Wisconsin's Injury Research Center has received a five-year, $4.5 million competitive renewal grant from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The IRC at MCW was established in 2001 as a comprehensive federally funded Injury Research Center to address the burden of injury in the Great Lakes Region of the Midwest (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio). The IRC at MCW is an interdepartmental collaboration of the departments of Pediatrics, Family and Community Medicine, Neurosurgery, Surgery, (Trauma and Critical Care Section, Pediatric Surgery Section), Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Population Health.

The IRC at MCW is also actively partnered with the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health and Family Services, as well as several local public health agencies. The location of the IRC at MCW in a major regional trauma center is significant. The IRC-MCW trans-disciplinary faculty directs the trauma programs at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital. This leadership has led to outstanding clinical, educational, and research accomplishments in the acute care of injuries that further informs prevention and rehabilitation.

The work of the IRC balances scientific research and reflects areas of expertise of faculty and staff with important core programs to support education, public policy, research, and prevention and community partnerships efforts of the Center.

The Center's accomplishments in the past six years include:

• Leveraging over $8 million in additional funding for injury research
• Disseminating research findings in peer-reviewed publications, at national and international conferences, invited lectures, and through media and press coverage to advance the science of injury prevention and control
• Fostering injury research by providing over 3,000 hours of consultations with new and senior investigators
• Investing in future injury researchers and advocates for injury control through mentoring faculty and students, seed funding, medical and graduate education, and seminars.

Stephen W. Hargarten, MD, MPH, Professor and Chairman of Emergency Medicine and Director of the Injury Research Center, is the Principal Investigator for the grant. Peter M. Layde, MD, MSc, Professor and Interim Chairman of Population Health, serves as the Center's Co-Director.

The Center serves to enhance the research, education, and policy infrastructure for injury prevention and control to ultimately reduce injury deaths and disabilities statewide, regionally and nationwide. Injuries account for more deaths of Americans under age 25 than all other causes combined.

"The accomplishments to date by our nationally recognized physicians and scientists in biomechanics, epidemiology and health services research have been a major factor in the renewal," Dr. Hargarten said. "These faculty and staff have positioned our Center to take a truly comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to addressing and reducing the burden of injury across all populations."

MCW Health News presents up-to-date information on patient care and medical research by the physicians of the Medical College of Wisconsin.