Welcome to the Center for Injury Research and Prevention: Discovering a Safer World
As long as there are childhood injuries, there will be a need to apply the tools of science to prevent them. The Center for Injury Research and Prevention is a comprehensive pediatric trauma research facility at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia dedicated to addressing injury, the leading cause of death for children and adolescents.
Research Programs & Networks
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Young Driver Research
The multidisciplinary Young Driver Research team at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute is working to advance science to reduce teen driver-related crashes. This science fuels the team's effort to develop and disseminate evidence-based interventions, education, and policy to promote safe driving-related behaviors among teens and their parents. Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS)
This center-within-a-center is an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center established in 2005 by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Faculty and students work side-by-side to conduct translational research that is practical to industry.National Child Occupant Special Study (NCOSS)
Currently in pilot phases of research, NCOSS would use NHTSA’s National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) infrastructure to identify children in crashes and apply rigorous child-focused data collection methodology to obtain in depth crash information on children.Child and Adolescent Reaction to Injury and Trauma (CARIT)
This program conducts pioneering research into the range of responses that children and their parents experience after pediatric injury so that effective interventions may be developed to reduce post-traumatic stress.The Philadelphia Collaborative Violence Prevention Center (PCVPC)
The Philadelphia Collaborative Violence Prevention Center (PCVPC) was established in 2006 through a cooperative agreement with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the goal of preventing violence and aggression in the lives of young people in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Through a truly collaborative relationship, PCVPC brings together academic institutions (The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Drexel University) and community-based organizations to share equally in the planning, leadership, analysis, and dissemination of research results.National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Indefinite Quantities Contract
NHTSA currently provides funding for the Center to conduct research on a wide range of research topics including, abdominal protection, test dummy development, and improving restraint use in at-risk populations.Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS)
In a unique collaboration between academic institutions and private industry, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania, and State Farm Insurance Companies® joined forces in 1997 to form Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS). PCPS soon became the world’s largest child-focused motor vehicle crash surveillance system, and its findings are recognized worldwide.
Visit our other websites
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| This award-winning website, offers current research-based information and tools to help keep teens safe on the road. | This award-winning site, a decade in the making, gives parents the tools they need to help their children fully recover after an injury. | |
| This website is the online home of the Philadelphia Collaborative Violence Prevention Center (PCVPC), an CDC Urban Partnership Academic Center of Excellence. Learn more about community-based programs and research initiatives that work to prevent violence and aggression in the lives of young people in West and Southwest Philadelphia. | This site was developed by the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and the Kohl’s Injury Prevention Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to help parents choose and install the appropriate safety seat for their children through videos, expert information, and downloadable educational materials. |
Find us on
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Access this channel for important child passenger safety (CPS) videos, including a podcast explaining the American Academy of Pediatrics’ new CPS recommendations and our popular crash simulations. |
With a wide array of teen driver safety related segments, including a series for parents called “Communicating With Your Teen About Driving,” this channel provides families with important information on the number one killer of teens - car crashes. |
These videos support content found on AfterTheInjury.org, the award-winning website to help children recover after an injury. |
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News Spotlight
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Read Research in Action, our E-Newsletter (Subscribe Now) |
New CHOP Studies Focus On Peer Passengers: The "Other Distraction" for Teen Drivers
January 24, 2012
– Two new studies by CHOP researchers identify factors that may lead teens to drive with multiple peer passengers, a known crash risk, and then, how those passengers may affect their driver's behavior just before a serious crash. The unique research paves the way for future studies to examine how interactions between teen drivers and their peer passengers may specifically be associated with crashes. The findings were published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Read the Time Magazine article.
Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article.
Read the press release.
New CHOP Research Examines Teens with Autism and Driving Readiness
January 10, 2012
– A new study conducted by CIRP researchers and funded by the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS), a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center at CHOP, found that among a sample of 300 15- to 18-year-olds with a higher-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) old enough to drive in their state, two-thirds are currently driving or planning to drive. The study, which was published in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, surveyed the parents of these teens.
Read the The Columbus Dispatch article.
Read the US News & World Report HealthDay article.
Read the FamilyCarCarGuide.com article.
Read the PsychCentral.com article
CIRP Researcher Weighs In On New California Booster Seat Law
December 29, 2011 – In this ABC News article, staff writer Ellen Tumposky reports on a new California law mandating that children remain in booster seats until they are at least age 8 or 4 feet 9 inches tall. The law, which goes into effect on January 1, 2012, is in alignment with current recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Kristy Arbogast, PhD, CIRP's Director of Engineering, explains in the article that CHOP research supports the new law, showing a 45 percent reduction in injury risk during a crash for 4- to 8-year-olds in booster seats as opposed to wearing a seat belt alone.
Read the ABC News article.
Center Experts Find Car Seats Protect Overweight Kids, Too
November 28, 2011 – In her post on the New York Times blog "Wheels," staff writer Cheryl Jensen discusses recent CHOP research published in the journal Pediatrics that found no association between children's weight and their risk of crash-related injury when seated in an appropriate child safety seat or belt-positioning booster seat. The study, which looked at nearly 1,000 1- to 8-year-old children involved in crashes, suggests that children are optimally protected in a crash as long as they are restrained according to the most recent recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The results also suggest the current range of restraints available can accomodate a broad spectrum of children's body sizes, including children with higher weights.
Read the New York Times blog post.
Read the press release.
Center Researchers Stress Parents' Important Role in Teaching Teens to Drive
October 18, 2011 – In this Op Ed published in several newspapers, including the Delaware County Times, CIRP Co-Scientific Directors Flaura K. Winston, MD, PhD, and Dennis R. Durbin, MD, MSCE, cite recent CHOP research that reaffirms the important role parents play in teaching their children to drive, as well as their need for support to be effective in this role. Supporting parents as driving teachers is this year's National Teen Driver Safety Week theme, which runs from October 16-22.
Read the Op Ed.
teendriversource.org Included in National Teen Driver Safety Week Preview Article
October 12, 2011 – In his "Driver's Seat" column, Scott Sturgis of The Philadelphia Inquirer talks about National Teen Driver Safety Week and recommends several sources for information on "teaching Your Kid 1.0," including teendriversource.org. Suzanne Hill, CIRP's Director of Outreach and Advocacy, shares how the site was created based on years of research conducted by the Center's Young Driver Research team.
Read the article.
CIRP Director Provides Insight to Pediatricians on Emerging Teen Driver Threats
October 10, 2011 – In her latest contribution to medscape.com, Flaura Winston, MD, PhD, CIRP founder and co-scientific director, shares new CHOP research about how inexperience and distractions are the main factors that lead teens to crash. Although 89 percent of pediatricians counsel teens and parents about teen driver safety, they mainly focus on topics such as seat belt and alcohol use. Dr. Winston provides pediatricians with actionable tips to share with families of teen drivers that deal with speed management, scanning for hazards, and dealing with distractions.
View the video on medscape.com. (Note: You must create a free member log-in to view the video)
Challenge to Spread Awareness of Revised Child Passenger Safety Recommendations
September 26, 2011 – In a recent report released by the University of Michigan, the majority of parents surveyed are not following the revised child passenger safety recommendations released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in March 2011. The recommendations call for children to remain in rear-facing child safety seats until at least age 2. In this Philadelphia Inquirer article, CIRP co-scientific director and lead author of the AAP’s revised policy statement Dennis Durbin, MD, MSCE says it will take time and a concerted effort on the part of pediatricians and other groups to change the approach of parents.
Read the article.
Center Expert Weighs In On Study Exploring How GDL Impacts Older Teens
September 13, 2011 – A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) analyzes the effectiveness of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws for older teens. In this Associated Press article, Flaura Winston, MD, PhD, CIRP founder and co-scientific director, explains that the study confirms the effectiveness of GDL for 16- and 17-year-old drivers.
Read the article.
Children with ADHD At Increased Risk When Crossing Street According to New Study
July 25, 2011 – Recent research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham published in Pediatrics today reveals that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk of being hit by a vehicle when crossing a street. The study, funded in part by the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS) at CHOP, indicates that children with ADHD do not process information as well as other children and tend to make incorrect decisions on when to begin crossing a street to a greater extent than non-ADHD children.
Read the press release.
New Study Finds Children Are Safer in Crashes When Driven By Grandparents
July 18, 2011 – Recent CHOP research published in Pediatrics today reveals that children involved in crashes with grandparents behind the wheel are half as likely to be injured as those driven by parents. The study, funded by the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS) at CHOP, examined crash data on over 11,000 children from 2003 to 2007. The researchers found that while children are less frequently injured in crashes with their grandparents, their parents are more likely to use child safety restraints correctly.
Read the press release.
Read the New York Times article.
Read the Time article.
Read the MSNBC article.
Philly.com Video News Story Highlights Teen Driving Legislation in PA
July 7, 2011 – In this video news story on teen driver safety legislation in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Mike Armstrong interviewed PA State Rep. Katharine Watson and Flaura Winston, MD, PhD, founder and co-scientific director of CIRP. The video was produced in the wake of a crash that claimed the lives of four Coatesville-area teens on July 4. Rep. Watson sponsors House Bill 9, state-wide legislation for teen drivers that would limit teen passengers, impose a primary seat belt law, and boost the number of required adult-supervised practice hours teens receive before earning full licensure. The video also highlights information found on teendriversource.org.
Watch the video.
Read more news and press releases in our archives.