Runyan wins award for distinguished career in injury control

Carol Runyan, professor of epidemiology and community and behavioral health at the Colorado School of Public Health, and director of the Pediatric Injury Prevention, Education and Research (PIPER) program, and professor of pediatrics at the CU School of Medicine, was awarded the 2014 Distinguished Career Award from the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Injury Control and Emergency Health Services (ICEHS) Section.

The award is presented for outstanding dedication and leadership in the field of injury control, with contributions and achievements that have significant and long-term impact on the field.

“Dr. Runyan’s name and career are synonymous with excellence in research, as well as advancing injury and violence prevention practice. Her selection for this award is richly deserved,” said Shelli Stephens-Stidham, chair of the ICEHS Section of APHA.

Over the past 30 years, Runyan’s work has bridged science with local, state and national policies and identified priorities. She has broken new scientific ground on injury and violence prevention, including safety in the home, such as fire prevention, poison prevention, and safe storage of firearms; safety on college campuses; worker safety, especially among young workers; and clinical practices related to patient counseling (e.g., pediatric anticipatory guidance and family violence, and suicide prevention).

Runyan has developed improvements in injury surveillance; created U.S.-Canadian research and policy agendas for young worker safety; fashioned guidelines for evaluating injury research programs; and led the National Training Initiative in Injury and Violence Prevention. Her work has contributed to the creation of core competencies for the field and was the genesis of the PREVENT Institute, a national program that trained more than 900 practitioners. She has consulted with numerous organizations in the U.S. and abroad including the CDC, the International Labor Organization, and multiple universities, and has mentored scores of public health and medical professionals.

When Runyan joined the Colorado School of Public Health in 2011, she founded the PIPER program, a collaboration of the Colorado School of Public Health, CU School of Medicine, and Children’s Hospital Colorado. Before coming to Colorado, she was a faculty member from 1984 to 2011 at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she co-founded and directed the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center for 22 years. Today, the center is one of most esteemed injury research centers in the world.

Runyan also is an adjunct professor of health behavior at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health. She earned a Master of Public Health from the University of Minnesota, a PhD from UNC, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. She has been honored for her research and service, and for integrating research with practice, including the U.S. Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and recognition by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the 20 most influential leaders in the injury field over the last 20 years.