Developing Pilot Project Into a Full Scope Disaster Research Response Program
The ask: In 2012, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services leadership published a call for action in the New England Journal of Medicine to improve the capabilities of the nation to conduct human health research in the aftermath of disasters. Up to that point, disaster research was uncoordinated, largely anecdotal, and lacked the scientific rigor that is the basis for all human health studies.
The solution: In response to this article, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) instituted a pilot project in disaster research called the Disaster Research Response project, with a focus on environmental health studies. MDB supported this project by providing strategic planning, expertise in disaster management and public health, and science writing. MDB supported monthly meetings of the National Institutes of Health disaster interest group, assisted with the development of disaster research workshops that occurred in four large cities across the country, provided expertise in the development of a Disaster Research Response program website, and co-authored several peer-reviewed articles about disaster research.
Notable outcomes: Through the efforts supported by MDB, the DR2 project is now a full-fledged program at NIEHS.
