Research In Action

This week marks the tenth anniversary of the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. For the 21^st time, I am honored to preside over our biannual meeting that convenes a roomful of leaders who represent our member organization sponsors from automobile manufacturers, restraint suppliers, child restraint manufacturers, insurance, advocacy, consumer groups, and government.

They sit side by side with faculty from CHOP/Penn and The Ohio State University who leverage their real-world expertise to enhance the applicability of their research. For three days (and nights) we discuss a broad portfolio of research on how to prevent injury in children, youth and young adults. I am humbled by the commitment, intelligence, creativity and collaboration of my colleagues. Today, I’m particularly stunned. How did we get here? Where did this start?

As with any momentous occasion, it is not one moment or one action that leads to success but rather a series of opportunities that are recognized and capitalized upon. One moment, however, was truly pivotal in creating CChIPS – January 8, 2003. It was on this date that Dr. Kristy Arbogast and I met Dr. Alexander Schwarzkopf at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) Directors Meeting.

A force of nature, Alex was the mastermind behind the very successful NSF I/UCRC program which succeeded in ushering in a new era of government-industry-academia partnership that features high-quality, industrially relevant fundamental research with direct transfer of needed scientific foundation to foster innovation. With more than 80 current NSF centers, CChIPS remains the only I/UCRC center devoted to child injury prevention, now with our wonderful second site at The Ohio State University.

Collaborative Research In Action

For years, Kristy and I saw the value of collaborative relationship to advance the scientific foundation for child safety. By the time we met Alex, we were in the midst of a multi-year child-focused crash surveillance system with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, multiple projects with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and started a multi-year project on child biomechanics with TK Holdings Inc. (Takata Corp.). What the NSF program allowed us to do was formalize and broaden the participation through a cooperative consortium model, as well as benefit from NSF’s expertise, guidance, and collaborative capabilities.

Thank you, Alex, for your leadership in creating a structure for industry/university cooperative research, for believing in our vision, for caring about the protection of children and for launching a decade of our work, including more than 100 projects to date that are informing advances in product design and policy for child occupant protection, biomechanics, and young driver safety.

Read a press release announcing CChIPS’ 10th anniversary.
Download and share a report highlighting a decade of discovery and innovation through CChIPS.
Download and share this timeline infographic of the past decade of CChIPS research.

Please utilize the hashtag #cchipsturns10 on social media!