Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit

JH-IIRU is thrilled to announce that we will host the Drowning Prevention Research, Policy, and Practice Workshop as part of the pre-conference program for the World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion 2026 in South Africa.

🗓 September 1
🕘 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
🍲 Lunch and refreshments will be provided

Join researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world for a day of collaboration and discussion focused on advancing drowning prevention through evidence!

We will share more details, including the registration link, in the coming weeks.

We’re honored to be a partner in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety as it aims to save an additional one million lives over the next five years!

By advancing proven policies—ranging from improved road infrastructure to enhanced vehicle safety standards—we’re helping build healthier, more sustainable communities worldwide.

Learn more here: bit.ly/4vQEeln

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🎉 We’re proud to recognize members of JH-IIRU for their recent award nominations! 🎉

Md Zabir Hasan was nominated for Supervisor of the Year, while Ndondwa Mijoya and Muky Rittiphairoj were nominated for Student Employee of the Year.

Coordinated by the Experiential Learning team at Johns Hopkins, these awards recognize a group of outstanding individuals across the university, celebrating excellence and dedication in their work.

Last month, in collaboration with the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and the Tanzania Red Cross Society, under the EMPOWER-TZ program, we welcomed 17 participants from key Tanzanian institutions—including the Ministry of Health and Ifakara Health Institute—to the Introduction to Implementation Science for Health course.

Over the sessions, participants explored the fundamentals of implementation science. They also touched on key outcomes like effectiveness, adoption, and sustainability, and worked through practical approaches to community engagement and stakeholder mapping.

📸: MUHAS

JH-IIRU Research Associate Dr. Paula Caporal attended the 2026 Critical Care Congress hosted by the Society of Critical Care Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

During the conference, she presented data from our unit’s Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety activities in Latin America, focusing on a multilevel analysis of child restraint use, including factors associated with its use and variations across cities.

Thanks to Dr. Caporal for representing JH-IIRU and sharing this important data! 💙

⚙️ What does it take to build a global research agenda that drives change?

At the Accelerating Progress Towards Road Safety meeting held last week, global partners came together to help shape a consensus-driven research agenda, connecting road safety with planetary health, sustainable mobility, and equity frameworks.

The meeting was convened by JH-IIRU and the Road Traffic Injuries Research Network, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Held at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, the meeting was opened by Abdul Bachani, Director of JH-IIRU, alongside Dean Keisha Pollack Porter from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Becky Bavinger from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Experts and leaders from organizations including The World Bank, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, FIA Foundation, Vital Strategies, iRAP, YOURS - Youth for Road Safety, Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH), and The George Institute for Global Health, brought diverse perspectives to the table, unpacking key issues, challenging ideas, and enriching discussions on how to move toward more connected, system-wide solutions.

Day three marked the conclusion of Program Zero.

Building on the previous sessions, strategic response exercises and case assessments led by Lösningar reinforced the program’s focus on rigorous, data-informed road safety practice.

Complementing this work, JH-IIRU’s Dr. James Kumwenda contributed a session on monitoring and evaluation processes, outlining practical approaches to measuring impact and sustaining progress over time.

Together, participants represented institutions such as the Global Designing Cities Initiative, FIA Foundation, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety / Highway Loss Data Institute, and United Arab Emirates University, among others.

Thank you to everyone for their dedication and active engagement throughout these last three days!