Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114798

Sasha Rudenstine¹, Kenneth Ruggiero, PhD², Ron Acierno, PhD², Connie Best, PhD², Heidi Resnick, PhD², David Vlahov, PhD³, Dean Kilpatrick, PhD², and Sandro Galea, MD, MPH³. (1) Center For Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Acedemy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10029, 212-822-7274, srudenstine@nyam.org, (2) National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, 165 Cannon Street, Charleston, SC 29425, (3) Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029

Research and assessment is an essential part of post-disaster intervention. The Disaster Research Education, and Mentoring Center (DREM), established through a National Institutes of Health grant, is co-sponsored by the Medical University of South Carolina and the New York Academy of Medicine. The DREM Center, is a virtual center, comprised of cross-site and multidisciplinary faculty, designed to improve the quality of post-disaster research. The Center aims to directly assist researchers from a variety of disciplines design and implement collaborative epidemiological research projects in the aftermath of natural, human-made, or terrorist disasters. Such research projects can document the impact of disasters and have the potential to improve public policy and the future development and improvement of disaster-response services. Since DREM inception we have worked with researchers in Madrid after the March 11 train bombings and in Florida following the 2004 hurricanes. In both these settings, DREM Center faculty have worked with local investigators to design, implement, and analyze studies aimed at documenting the consequences of these disasters in the general population and in specific high risk groups. In this session we will discuss how cross-site, and cross-disciplinary partnerships of researchers can be established to assist local initiatives to implement research after disaster. We will consider lessons learned, results from these ongoing studies, and how the DREM center findings have informed public health practice in the immediate aftermath of disaster events.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the learner in this session will be able to
• Discuss the history of post-disaster research and the evolving understanding of their consequences
• Discuss the mental and physical health consequences of disasters among those directly affected by a disaster and in the general population
• Consider the importance of cross-site, and cross-disciplinary partnerships of researchers in the implementation of disaster research
• Discuss the role that disaster research can play in the design and development and improvement of disaster-response services

Keywords: Disasters, Research

Related Web page: www.disasterresearch.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.