This third phase of support for the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies builds on a strong foundation that will, at the end of five years, transition into sustainability with the help of a broad base of industry and interested government agency support. This Industry/University Cooperative Research Center is the only one devoted to the study of child, youth, and young adult automotive injury and injury prevention; and it applies its leadership position, cutting edge research, and synergistic partnerships to achieve its mission, by facilitating the conduct of scientific inquiry into child automotive injuries and translating these findings into commercial applications, interventions, policies, and public education programs for prevention. The fundamental idea behind the Center is that children, youth, and young adults are not small adults (mechanically, psychologically, developmentally, or socially) and car crash injuries are one of their leading causes of death and acquired disability. Effective interventions, based on sound scientific foundations to car crash injuries in these age groups and their causes, are a national priority. As regulation, technology and consumer behavior and demand become increasingly complex and sophisticated, industry and government research and findings from the Center are able to guide strategies to protect our nation's children. The Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies works collaboratively with industry across five related themes: biomechanics; technological solutions; human factors; safety promotion and education; and evaluation; and over the course of the last ten years the Center has more than quadrupled its dues paying membership from 5 to 22 members, initiating and completing 92 individual research projects that heavily leverage private sector funds. Broader impacts of the Center include student education and engagement in research, promoting the national health by providing fundamental research on child injuries and strategies for prevention, and performing precompetitive research of interest to a wide variety of private sector and governmental sponsors.
In this renewal phase (Phase III), Center leadership and its Industrial Advisory Board will continue to refine Center processes that they develop collaboratively to ensure that research carried out by the Center is diverse and responsive to scientific and industry needs. In the new phase, the Center is expanding its intellectual and research reach from automotive injuries and prevention to include those of injuries related to sports and aviation.
