Ruth Abaya, MD, MPH is an Attending Physician in the Emergency Department at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and a Practice-based Scholar at CHOP's Center for Violence Prevention. Dr. Abaya is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Program Manager for the Injury Prevention Program at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Her interests and research focus includes gun violence prevention, with particular emphasis on access to firearms among high-risk adolescents, as well as patient-centered approaches to prevention that draw on the experiences of the youths themselves.

As a Stoneleigh Fellow with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and CHOP, Dr. Abaya is working to create a registry of those who have experienced firearm injuries in Philadelphia to identify the most promising practices for violence prevention and intervention in the city. She is a member of the National Medical Council on Gun Violence, and has presented on gun safety counseling at the National Physicians Alliance’s National Conference.