Baker Awarded Inaugural SAVIR Champions Award (web article)

Susan P. Baker, MPH, professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, received the Champions Award from the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR). Baker was recognized as the inaugural recipient for successfully promoting the field of injury and violence prevention. The award was presented at the awards banquet of the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the American Public Health Association on Nov. 7 in Boston, Mass.

An epidemiologist specializing in injury prevention, Baker was the first director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. Her research focuses on aviation safety, teenage drivers and investigations of motor vehicle occupant and pedestrian deaths among children and adults. She has also studied crashes of motorcycles and heavy trucks, carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning, childhood asphyxiation, house fires, falls in the elderly, homicide, suicide and fatal occupational injuries.

Baker is an ardent advocate of policy changes that will prevent injuries. Much of her teaching and research is designed to influence the legislators, administrators, media representatives and others whose decisions can determine the likelihood of injury for thousands of people.

In his award presentation, Hank Weiss, PhD, MPH, president-elect of SAVIR, said about Baker, “ Her accomplishments. . .stem from a career that encompasses four decades, bridges two centuries, includes 176 journal articles, four books, 22 monographs, 15 book chapters and numerous awards and leadership positions at key times and key places. It is a legacy that has touched and enriches us all.”

SAVIR, formerly the National Association of Injury Control Research Centers, is dedicated to promoting scholarly activity in injury control and addressing issues relevant to the prevention, acute care and rehabilitation of traumatic injury. The Champions Award recognizes individuals or institutions that have consistently shown, through their research, an intention and ability to significantly advance the field of injury and violence prevention.