The global injury burden is disproportionately concentrated in low and middle income countries (LMIC).This project, to be named ICREATE (Injury Capacity in Research in EAsTern Europe), introduces injury and violence training to the LMIC countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova, which are strategic global priorities due to their political and economic ties to the Middle East, Russia, and Europe. Capacity for medical and public health education in these countries has been growing, but injury and violence is not currently addressed. Our University of Iowa training program builds on a successful decade of capacity building for injury and violence research in Romania, where our partnership helped establish the Cluj School of Public Health and its independently-funded injury research unit. Training will be conducted in partnership, demonstrating a successful transition in Romania from trainees to trainers.
The aims of our training program are to: train a critical mass of researchers from Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova to conduct innovative research; facilitate the transition of trainees to positions of leadership; develop our partner institutions as sustainable centers of excellence in injury research and education; and, engage partners to translate research into effective prevention and treatment programs. Based on the needs of our partner countries and expertise of the project leadership, we will focus on three areas: road traffic safety; violence against women and children; and, acute care. Our training program will prioritize long-term MPH and PhD training to build research and leadership skills focused on injury and violence prevention. Through a European Union TEMPUS grant, our partner institutions have MPH programs that allow transfer of credit. Within this structure, we will integrate two injury and violence courses; a Global Injury and Violence Summer Symposium; and a mentored research project. Injury and violence training will occur at the University of Iowa and Cluj School of Public Health. PhD training will occur in the strong research environment of the University of Iowa, which includes a CDC-funded Injury Prevention Research Center. We plan for these activities to build sustainable research and education capacity that will lead to reductions in the burden of traumatic injuries and violence.
This project, ICREATE (Injury Capacity in Research in EAsTern Europe) continues the University of Iowa's strong record of injury and violence research training by expanding to the countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova. We will partner with the University of Babes- Bolyai, where we have helped establish the Cluj School of Public Health, with an independently funded research unit. Our training will build capacity to reduce the burden of road traffic injury, violence against women and children, and will improve acute injury treatment.
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