Barbara Barlow, MD

  • Special Lecturer in Epidemiology

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Overview

Barbara Barlow, MD, has focused her research on traumatic injury to children and injury prevention for the past 25 years. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, a National Program developed with funding from of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Injury Free, a coalition of Injury Prevention Programs in Pediatric Trauma Centers located in major cities in the U. S., reduces injury through education, construction of safe play areas, and the development and support of safe supervised activities with strong adult mentors. Major injury admissions of community children in Harlem decreased by more than 60% since the program started at Harlem Hospital in 1988. The Program and Dr. Barlow have received awards from the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the National Safety Council, the American Trauma Society, the National Association of Public Hospitals, Society of Public Health Educators of the American Public Health Association, Johnson and Johnson Foundation, Allstate Foundation, the Hospital Association of New York, among others. Dr. Barlow's general surgical training was completed at Bronx Municipal Hospital followed by a Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at Babies Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. She was Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Harlem Hospital from 1975 to 1999, where she started the Injury Prevention Program, and served as Director of Surgery at Harlem Hospital from 1999 until 2009.

Academic Appointments

  • Special Lecturer in Epidemiology

Administrative Titles

  • Executive Director , Injury Free Coalition for Kids
  • Associate Director, Co-Director of Outreach, CIEPAC

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • BA, 1960 Vassar College
  • MA, 1963 Columbia University
  • MD, 1967 Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Committees, Societies, Councils

  • American Academy of Pediatrics
  • American College of Surgeons
  • American Pediatric Surgical Association
  • American Association for Surgery of Trauma
  • American Surgical Association
  • New York Academy of Medicine

Editorial Boards

  • Journal of Pediatric Surgery
  • Pediatrics
  • Journal of the American Public Health Association

Honors & Awards

  • CDC Foundation National Hero Award, 2011
  • Distinguished Women in Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 2003
  • Dean?s Distinguished Award in the Clinical Sciences, Columbia University, 2003
  • Distinguished Career Award, American Public Health Association, 2001
  • David E. Rogers Award. Assoc. of American Medical Colleges, 2001

Research

Selected Publications

Davidson, LL, Durkin, MS, O'Connor P, Barlow B, Heagarty MC The epidemiology of severe injuries to children in northern Manhattan: Methods and incidence rates Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 6 153-165 1992

Durkin MS, Davidson LL, Kuhn L, O'Connor P, Barlow B. Low income neighborhood and risk of severe pediatric injury: A small area analysis in northern Manhattan American Journal of Public Health 84 587-592 1994

Davidson LL, Durkin MS, Kuhn L, O'Conner P, Barlow B, Heagarty MC The impact of the safe kids/healthy neighborhoods injury prevention program in Harlem 1988 to 1991 American Journal of Public Health 84 580-586 1994

Laraque D, Barlow B, Durkin M, Heagarty M Injury prevention in an urban setting: Challenges and successes Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 72 16-30 1995

Durkin M, Kuhn L, Davidson L, Laraque D, Barlow B Epidemiology and prevention of severe assault and gun injuries to children in an urban community Journal of Trauma 41 667-673 1996

Durkin M, Olsen S, Barlow B, Virella A Connolly Jr, ES The epidemiology of urban pediatric neurological trauma: Evaluation of, and implications for, injury prevention programs Neurosurgery 42 300-310 1998

Durkin M, Laraque D, Lubman I, Barlow B Epidemiology and prevention of traffic injuries to urban children and adolescents Pediatrics 103 (6) e74 1999

Pressley J, Villar S, Barlow B Ethnic disparities in injury of children and adolescents due to falls from buildings and structures in the USA Applied Environmental Science and Public Health 1:2 79-87 2004

Pressley J, Barlow B Preventing injury and injury-related disability in children and adolescents Seminars in Pediatric Surgery 13:2 2004

Pressely JC, Barlow B, Durkin M, et al A national program for injury prevention in children and adolescents Journal of Urban Health 2005

Urban Health Activities

Injury Free Coalition for Kids: Through education,improving the physical and social environment for children,and developing a coalition from the medical community, governmental agencies and the community parents and organizations, we work to reduce injury to children and promote safe communities.