Dr. Barbara Barlow Receives CDC Foundation Hero Award
ATLANTA - Barbara Barlow, M.D. received the 2011 CDC Foundation Hero Award at a special event at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC Foundation is honoring Barlow for her leadership and innovation in working with communities to implement science-based approaches to reducing injuries to children.
Barlow is the founder and executive director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, a national coalition of Injury Prevention Programs in 42 trauma centers located in cities throughout the U.S., including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The Injury Free program brings public health and medical practitioners together with community members to design and implement programs to reduce injuries to children based on local needs. The programs involve combinations of education like bicycle safety, construction of safe play areas and the development and support of safe, supervised activities like dance classes or sports teams with strong adult mentors.
"Dr. Barlow has worked tirelessly to decrease injuries in children across the nation, and has been a leader in integrating multiple strategies to reduce injuries, ensuring that the interventions included community involvement," says Linda Degutis, DrPh, MSN, director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. "Her contribution in this area is immeasurable, and she serves as a unique role model for health practitioners in going beyond their routine work, and often beyond their comfort zone, to work with the community to improve health." Degutis, is one of three people who nominated Barlow to receive the CDC Foundation Hero Award.
Barlow has received numerous awards for her work with Injury Free, including recognition from the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Safety Council, the American Trauma Society, and the American Public Health Association.
Barlow's research has focused on traumatic injury to children and injury prevention for the past 25 years. She is currently professor emerita of surgery in epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York, where she is an integral member of the injury epidemiology team. Barlow received a B.A. from Vassar College, an M.A. in Psychology from Columbia University and an M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
"We are honored to recognize Dr. Barlow for her exemplary work," says Charles Stokes, CDC Foundation president and CEO. "Most Americans are not aware of CDC's significant work and leadership in protecting people and saving lives through injury prevention. We are proud to shine a light on Dr. Barlow, CDC and partners at all levels who are working with such dedication and passion in this important field."
First presented in 2005, the CDC Foundation Hero Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to improving the public’s health through exemplary work in advancing CDC’s mission of promoting health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury and disability. Previous recipients include:
• Michael Jacobson, Ph.D., co-founder and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest
• William Foege, M.D., M.P.H., senior fellow of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and former CDC director
• Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., founding director of Partners In Health
• Sir Michael Marmot, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., F.R.C.P., F.F.P.H.M., FMedSci, director of the University College London International Institute for Society and Health and MRC Research Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health
• Raymond J. Baxter, Ph.D., senior vice president for community benefit for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
• The Honorable Rudy Giuliani, 107th Mayor of New York City.
Established by Congress, the CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do more, faster, by forging effective partnerships between CDC and corporations, foundations and individuals to fight threats to health and safety. The CDC Foundation manages approximately 200 public health programs in the United States and in countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.cdcfoundation.org.