Dennis R. Durbin, M.D., M.S.C.E.
Scientific Director
Dennis R. Durbin, M.D., M.S.C.E., is a pediatric emergency physician and clinical epidemiologist. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. An internationally recognized leader in pediatric trauma research, Dr. Durbin is the Scientific Director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP.
Dr. Durbin’s research interests are in the area of pediatric injury epidemiology, with particular emphasis on the prevention of motor vehicle occupant injuries to children and the prevention of teen driver crashes. He has received both federal and industry support for his research. He served as the co-principal investigator of Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS), a joint effort between CHOP and State Farm Insurance Companies® that resulted in the world’s largest child-focused motor vehicle crash surveillance system, as well as co-principal investigator of the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network Center at CHOP.
His research has been published in a number of scientific journals and conference proceedings, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Pediatrics, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. Dr. Durbin served on the Committee for Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and is a member of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. He also has been elected to the Society for Pediatric Research.
Dr. Durbin’s research, in particular PCPS, has been recognized by a number of organizations with several awards, including the Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award in Highway Safety from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, the Elaine Wodzin Young Achiever Award from the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine and the Highway Safety Hero Award for Innovative Research from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. In addition, he is a dedicated educator of physicians and researchers, having won the Excellence in Teaching Epidemiology Award from the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has contributed to 10 Divisional Teaching Awards given to the Division of Emergency Medicine at CHOP by the pediatric house staff.