Research In Action

As we look ahead to 2026, let's take a look back at some of the most read blog posts from the last year. 

Addressing Microaggressions in Healthcare: Lessons from Intervention Studies

In this post, Drs. Rui Fu and Stephen Leff review microaggressions in healthcare—subtle verbal or behavioral slights directed at marginalized individuals—that harm both patients’ trust and providers’ well‑being, and summarize intervention studies aimed at increasing recognition and response to these interactions.

Lung Story Short: Teen Vaping is Harmful

This post by Drs. Rachel Rothstein and Kevin Osterhoudt highlights that youth vaping is a serious public health concern, with e‑cigarette use linked to life‑threatening lung injuries like EVALI, particularly when adolescents use unregulated THC‑containing products.

Flag Football Helmets: Assessing Headgear in an Increasingly Popular Sport

Dr. Declan Patton describes ongoing research by the CHOP Minds Matter Concussion Program to better understand head impacts in youth flag football and evaluate the effectiveness of protective headgear as the sport grows in popularity.

Race, Age, and Sex: Key Factors in Pediatric Firearm and Motor Vehicle Fatalities

The post discusses research examining U.S. child and youth fatalities from firearms and motor vehicle crashes from 2011 to 2021, highlighting how trends differ across age, sex, race, and ethnicity and revealing significant disparities in risk and rates among demographic groups.

Protecting Young Drivers with Safer Vehicles

Dr. Elizabeth Walshe shares research showing that teen drivers are more likely to be in older vehicles with fewer advanced safety features, which may increase their risk of fatal crashes, and highlights the potential benefits of modern driver assistance technologies in reducing crash severity.

Blurring Lines: Exploring Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying in the Digital Era

In this post, Dr. Tracy Waasdorp describes how increasing use of technology among children and adolescents has blurred the lines between traditional in‑person bullying and cyberbullying, with digital communication creating unique challenges such as anonymity, pervasiveness, and difficulty escaping online aggression.

Guns, Crashes, and Children—Shaping a Safer Future Over the Next 15 Years

Dr. Rachel Myers highlights research showing that U.S. children and adolescents experience far higher mortality from preventable causes like firearm injuries and motor vehicle crashes compared with peers in other high‑income countries, with tens of thousands of excess deaths over a 16‑year period.