Welcome to the Disaster Injury Research and Epidemiology Site

Injuries – and their social consequences – exact an enormous toll on population health and well-being.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the aftermath of disasters.  Terrorist attacks and recent natural disasters have thrown into stark relief the challenges public health practitioners and epidemiologists face in responding to the need for information to help direct disaster preparedness and injury control efforts.  Such large-scale events require us to more broadly define injuries to include behavioral and mental health disturbances, utilize non-traditional and forward-thinking research methods, and structure innovative control and treatment programs.

This site is intended to contribute to this process by presenting access to background material, disaster and injury-related studies, descriptions of and links to some epidemiological tools, and a forum for students and researchers interested in conducting investigations to help guide response and mitigation efforts. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

About this site and the work behind it.

The genesis of this site lies in research being conducted on the effects of the terrorist attacks of 2001 on the health of New York City's communities.  The goals are to develop methods for health protection research and identify opportunities for primary and secondary prevention of terrorist and disaster-related behavioral health disturbances.   The project is funded by a CDC Health Protection Research Initiative K01 grant.

The research includes determining whether there were post-attack increases in emergency department or outpatient medical utilization among vulnerable populations consistent with an adverse affect on the overall health of the community.  Work to date documents patterns of health disturbances in post disaster periods in developed nations,  applies time-series analysis to outpatient and emergency department utilization following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and uses Bayesian hierarchical modeling techniques for spatial analyses of New York City following the terrorist attacks.

The project has evolved to consider post-disaster behavioral and mental health disturbances as part of the spectrum of injury.  The specific aims include 1) to establish and document the health impact of terrorist incidents on the general population of affected communities, 2) to suggest evidence-based first-responder and medical provider training for both individual and population-level interventions, 3) to predict the potential effects of behavioral health disturbances on surge capacity, 4) to guide resource allocation for behavioral and social assistance in the post-attack periods and 5) to provide baseline information for surveillance to gauge the effects of future events.

The results are intended to inform the work of practitioners in responding to post-disaster health needs, public health agencies in establishing baselines for surveillance and planning for surge capacity demands, and emergency management policy makers in educating and mobilizing their communities.  This site is one means of disseminating study results and providing access to the methodological tools developed during the course of this research.

Biography

Principle investigator and site author Charles DiMaggio is assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health where he teaches and conducts disaster and injury-related research. He is a scientist, clinician and educator with 20 years experience in emergency medicine, public health and injury control.

Dr. DiMaggio received his MPH and PhD degrees in epidemiology from Columbia University during which he conducted analyses of pediatric pedestrian injuries for the New York City Department of Transportation.  He served 12 years as chief physician assistant and director of research for the emergency department at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine at Elmhurst Hospital Center, NY, where he also coordinated the Advanced Trauma Life Support training program for physicians and served on the hospital’s institutional review board.  As a chief research scientist with the Nassau County Department of Health he worked on a variety of projects including bioterrorism preparedness, syndromic surveillance, and health disparities.

Dr. DiMaggio has published and presented his work both nationally and internationally and is co-director of the Mailman School of Public Health’s widely attended and well-regarded Principles of Epidemiology I course.

Contact

This site is a work in progress. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Email the Site Author

Suggested Citation and Disclaimer

DiMaggio, C. (2007). Disaster injury research and epidemiology: page title. www.columbia.edu/~cjd11/charles_dimaggio  (Access Date).

The work presented in these pages has been supported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health Protection Research Initiative grant K01 CE000494.  Its content is solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of CDC.