Dr. Flaura Winston Elected into the National Academy of Medicine for Work on Driving Safety, Injury Prevention

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Flaura Koplin Winston, MD, PhD, scientific director and founder of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania was elected into the National Academy of Medicine this morning. She is one of 80 physicians to receive the prestigious honor this year.

"I am deeply honored to be included among the members of the National Academy of Medicine and grateful to the many partners who applied my team's research to innovations that achieved reductions in traffic crashes and injuries," says Dr. Winston. "I hope to bring this research-action-impact approach to deliberations at the National Academies to help accelerate benefit from research discoveries and technology, to narrow the chasm between discovery and value. I want to see scientific and engineering breakthroughs, big and small, become life-saving discoveries, especially for children and youth."

Dr. Winston holds a Distinguished Chair in the Department of Pediatrics at CHOP and serves as the Scientific Director of the National Science Foundation Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS). Her research includes improving child passenger safety, preventing teen and young driver crashes, and addressing posttraumatic stress after injury, a field where medicine, engineering and public health intersect. Dr. Winston's work has led to patents and a startup company, Diagnostic Driving, Inc., which provides virtual driving assessments to corporate fleets, universities, and is being used in driver licensing centers in the state of Ohio.

"Dr. Winston is a preeminent international scholar who has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of mechanisms of child and teen road-traffic injury and who has had enormous impact on prevention of traffic-related morbidity and mortality in children," says Joseph W. St. Geme, MD, physician-in-chief and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics. "She is highly deserving of this recognition."

Since 1970, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has elected a select group of doctors and researchers each year who have made important contributions to health, medicine, and science. Dr. Winston is the tenth CHOP physician to be elected into the NAM. 

About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 546-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu

Contact: Camillia Travia
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
(267) 426-6251 (office)
(425) 492-5007 (cell)
[email protected]

SOURCE Children's Hospital of Philadelphia