Child abuse and neglect are considered a serious public health problem in modern China. A number of factors, including social and cultural traditions and a lack of public awareness regarding appropriate child discipline, have caused child abuse to remain an understudied issue.
A new global collaborative project aims to help identify and report abuse-related traumatic brain injury among Chinese children. Researchers of the International Program in the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital are collaborating with researchers at several institutions in China to conduct the project, funded by the International Affairs Gateway Research Grant from the Office of International Affairs and the Office of Research at The Ohio State University.
“The successful collaboration with Wuhan Children’s Hospital on this project will help to delineate the growing public health concern of abuse related traumatic brain injuries in China,” said the study principal investigator, Huiyun Xiang, MD, MPH, PhD, director for International Programs in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s, and an associate professor of Epidemiology at The Ohio State University College of Public Health.
Since its inception in 2004, the International Program in the Center for Injury Research and Policy has established several international collaborations, including the one with Wuhan Children’s Hospital, and has worked to decrease the burden of injury morbidity and mortality worldwide.
“We cherish the relationship with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and look forward to working together on this joint venture,” said Jianbo Shao, MD, vice president for Research and Training at Wuhan Children’s Hospital.
The Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) of The Research Institute at Nationwide
Children’s Hospital works globally to reduce injury-related pediatric death and disabilities. With innovative research as its core, CIRP works to continually improve the scientific understanding of the epidemiology, biomechanics, prevention, acute treatment and rehabilitation of injuries. CIRP serves as a pioneer by translating cutting edge injury research into education, policy and advances in clinical care. For related injury prevention materials or to learn more about CIRP visit http://www.injurycenter.org.