Thomas R. Simon, PhD

Senior Director for Scientific Programs, Division of Violence Prevention

Areas of Expertise

• Adverse childhood experiences
• Youth violence prevention
• School violence prevention
• Firearm violence and injury prevention
• Violence surveillance
• Public health burden of violence

Thomas R. Simon, PhD, is the senior director for scientific programs in the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. As the senior director for scientific programs, he provides leadership, planning, and guidance to division management and staff on scientific policy, research methodology, and priorities for research activities. His work focuses primarily on violence involving young people and the linkages across different forms of violence. He is particularly interested in how changes in prevention strategies and policies can reduce risk for multiple types of violence at the population level.

Dr. Simon received a PhD degree in preventive medicine from the University of Southern California’s School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Simon started at CDC as a Preventive Medicine Fellow in 1996. During his career at CDC, Dr. Simon has served as a scientific advisor on multiple etiological studies and longitudinal evaluations of violence prevention programs.

Dr. Simon has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, government publications, and book chapters and has given numerous presentations at international, national, state, and local conferences or meetings. His presentation topics address violence as a public health problem, risk and protective factors for violence, and prevention strategies based on the best available evidence.