Dr. Linda C. Degutis, DrPH, MSN, has been selected to serve as Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This is very welcome news and a fantastic achievement for Linda, who is also a member of our editorial board.
Injury Programs at the CDC deserve a vocal advocate who understands the scope and breadth of the injury epidemic, the importance of research and the challenges and priorities of translating research findings in to workable, effective public health practice. I believe they have found someone who is truly up to that challenge.
Dr. Degutis is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and School of Public Health, and Associate Clinical Professor of Nursing at Yale University. She is the Research Director for Emergency Medicine, and directs the Yale Center for Public Health Preparedness, as well as the Connecticut Partnership for Public Health Workforce Development in the School of Public Health. From 1998-2002, she was the Director of the New Haven Regional Injury Prevention and Control Program.
She is a Past President of the American Public Health Association, as well as Past Chair of its Executive Board, and Chair of the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section. At the state level, Dr. Degutis served as the Chair of the Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking, which focuses on environmental and policy change, and served on various committees and workgroups that focused on trauma system development in Connecticut. In addition, Dr. Degutis serves on the Institute of Medicine’s Advisory Board for the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship Program and the Executive Boards of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the American Trauma Society.
Dr. Degutis’ research interests have centered on issues related to alcohol and injury, with a particular focus on interventions and policy issues. She is known internationally for her work in public health, injury, substance abuse and policy, and has served as the principal investigator or co-investigator for grants on a wide range of topics including: alcohol interventions; screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT); public health preparedness; public health workforce training; public health systems research; and interventions for opioid addiction.