History of CIRCL
1992
The University of Pittsburgh formally established the Center for Injury Research and Control (CIRCL) under the leadership of Jeff Coben, MD, in the Department of Emergency Medicine in July, 1992. The impetus for establishing the Center came from the Health Sciences sector in recognition of the large public health burden caused by injuries in the region and the US. The goal of the Center was to coordinate injury control research, education, information gathering and dissemination, and public service. Thereafter, a small but spirited cadre of Center faculty and staff successfully established collaborative relationships with local and state health departments and garnered substantial extramural support. The University had an extensive history of research and clinical service related to prehospital emergency medical services, trauma systems, critical care medicine, and neurotrauma before the establishment of CIRCL.
1995
In 1995, CIRCL was awarded a three-year “feasibility” Center grant from the Centers for Disease Control with “Acute Care: Systems, Solutions, and Savings” as its theme. In adopting this theme, the Center was responding to “Injury Control in the 1990's: A National Plan for Action.” The Center conducted several research and service projects including:
- Applying Capture/Recapture technology to injury surveillance.
- A comprehensive Internet web site was established (ICRIN) which still serves as an international resource.
- A comprehensive report of the incidence of injuries in Allegheny County.
- A project regarding the influence of flooring characteristics on falls in the elderly.
- A project on therapeutic moderate hypothermia for patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
1997-1998
In May 1997, Donald Marion, MD was appointed as the new Center Director. Dr. Marion’s goal was to assure the conduct of high-quality research accomplished through multi-disciplinary efforts. In the 1998 CDC Center renewal (CR310285), Dr. Marion maintained support for ongoing CIRCL research and brought together new investigators. C. Edward Dixon, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery, led a project involving the PET scan evaluation of dopamine / acetylcholine systems during rehabilitation from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), intended to accelerate recovery of function following TBI. Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, led a project looking at the characteristics of quinolinic acid that is produced in the brain after severe head injury in adults and children. Gina Bertocci, PhD, from the School of Health & Rehabilitative Sciences, conducted two projects, one on a biomechanical and biological approach to investigating fractures encountered in child abuse and the other on crash performance evaluation, injury risk assessment and recommendations for wheelchair seating systems. Tom Songer, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, looked at the medical costs of child abuse. Dr. David Kolko had a small project that looked at intentional vs. unintentional injury to children examining the development of post-trauma attributions. Shirley G. Fitzgerald, PhD and Rory Cooper, PhD conducted a small project on the safety of manual wheelchairs.
2002
In November 2002, Dr. Marion resigned to take the chair in Neurosurgery at Boston University and Hank Weiss, PhD was appointed by the Vice-Chancellor of the Health Sciences as the new Director. During the next five years. Under Dr. Weiss’ leadership and with the considerable talent pool within the University, we intend to build on much of CIRCL’s previous work and expand into new areas of research, education and service.