2005 National Injury Prevention and Control Conference Hosts more than 750 Injury and Violence Prevention and Control Experts 

More than 750 injury and violence-related experts gathered in Denver, Colorado for the 2005 National Injury Prevention and Control Conference, Injury and Violence in America: Meeting Challenges, Sharing Solutions, held May 9-11, at the Adam's Mark Hotel.  The three-day event included more than 300 presentations, 60 sessions, an evening reception with entertainment, a special award ceremony, and a partner showcase luncheon event.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (CDC Injury Center), the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA), and the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR, formerly the National Association of Injury Control Research Centers), hosted the conference. 

The conference kicked-off with a luncheon and keynote address by CBS medical correspondent and author Emily Senay, M.D., a physician and medical/health reporter who is currently working to complete her masters in public health.   In addition to her experience specializing in preventive medicine and reporting for CBS and its Early Show, Dr. Senay is also the author of From Boys to Men: A Woman’s Guide to the Health of Husbands, Sons, Brothers, and Fathers.  Dr. Senay discussed how to successfully promote public health messages to the media, and how to package important, but often complex, messages to appeal to the public.   She also shared professional and personal observations from her book about the health and safety behaviors of boys and men.   

The conference opening plenary provided an equally thought-provoking keynote address from author and The New Yorker columnist, James Surowiecki.  Mr. Surowiecki’s best-selling book, The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies, and Nations, has sparked discussion about social and individual decision making processes.  Mr. Surowiecki discussed his much-talked about theory that the best decisions will emerge from organizations that value independent judgment by a group of individuals, or the “crowd,” as opposed to relying on a single person for making important decisions.  

Other plenary session topics included: Guiding the Future of Acute Injury Care Research; How Mortality Reviews Impact Prevention and Control; Injury Prevention and the Law; and a special closing luncheon by Colorado teacher, mother and suicide educator, Karen Johnson.  Ms. Johnson shared the inspirational story of her journey to becoming an advocate for suicide prevention after losing her son and almost losing her daughter to suicide.  

The Guiding the Future of Acute Injury Care Research plenary was also the forum for the formal release of Acute Injury Care Research Agenda.  The Injury Center has updated its Research Agenda in the area of acute injury care and has identified research gaps that need to be addressed.  The Agenda articulates those acute injury care research questions that must be answered to fulfill public health responsibilities to prevent needless deaths and to lessen the adverse health effects from injury and the costs of medical care to the injured.  

An evening exhibit, poster, and photo gallery reception featured a jazz trio and raffle event, creating an entertaining networking opportunity for attendees.  More than 140 poster presentations and numerous photo gallery presentations filled the exhibit hall.  The reception also included a special award ceremony to posthumously honor Linda Saltzman, Ph.D.  Dr. Saltzman was an intimate partner and family violence scientist with more than 20 years of dedicated service to CDC.  Her groundbreaking work helped define the field and has led to numerous advancements in violence prevention.  Dr. Saltzman’s family was on hand to accept the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Award for Outstanding Effectiveness in Promoting Awareness and Prevention of Sexual Violence.   

A Partner Showcase Luncheon event created a venue for 29 partner agencies, organizations, and centers to highlight their new programs, latest news, and upcoming events.  These partner organizations generously supported the conference and played key roles in its overwhelming success.  

More than 260 scientific research and programmatic oral presentations at the conference covered: agricultural injury; building infrastructure in injury; child maltreatment; community outreach; costs of injury; E-CODE projects; falls among older adults; hospital-based interventions; injury and violence among children and youth; injury in the home; intimate partner violence; motor vehicle injury; National Violent Death Reporting System; sports and recreational injury; suicide; surveillance; traumatic brain injury; violence; and workplace violence. 

Eleven skills-building sessions covered broad-reaching topics including: coalition building; evaluation; grant writing; injury 101; maximizing data sources; publishing; risk communication; using theory for practice; working with policy makers; and working with the media.   

For your complimentary CD containing the conference participants list, the abstract book, the conference program, or the photos displayed in the conference exhibit area, please write to ohcinfo@cdc.gov.  Additionally, web casting of five of the plenary sessions are available at: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/2005conference/webcast.htm.

Visit our conference photo gallery to see snapshots from the three-day event.