CNTR speaks for more than 6,000 trauma surgeons who are members of the nation’s premier trauma-related societies. We see

first-hand the impact that traumatic injury has on our society and

know that additional investment in research can save lives.

Powering Research to Save Lives

Coalition for National Trauma Research 9901 IH 10 West, Suite 720

San Antonio, TX 78230210-455-8038

CoalitionNTR.org

Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma

Powering Research to Save Lives

he nation’s leading trauma surgical societies

and organizations formed the Coalition for

National Trauma Research (CNTR) in 2014

to focus attention on a significant public health

problem. CNTR argues that 50 years of funding

shortfalls for injury-related research have been

deadly and costly, resulting in a yearly burden of

traumatic injury that is unacceptable:

• 192,000 deaths

• $671 billion in healthcare and lost productivity

• #1 cause of death from age 1 to 46

• 30% of all life years lost

CNTR members include the nation’s premier

trauma surgical societies—AAST, EAST and WTA—

which have a rich history in research related

to injury prevention and treatment; the ACS

Committee on Trauma, which develops trauma

center best practices through the Trauma Quality

Improvement Program (TQIP); and the National

Trauma Institute, which has generated and/or

managed nearly $60 million in sponsored trauma

research in the past 10 years.

Engaging in advocacy work at the Congressional

and national agency level, this broad collaboration

of organizations has made quick progress on

its agenda to achieve consistent and significant

federal funding for trauma research, create a

centralized research agenda, and establish a

robust trauma research infrastructure that includes

the National Trauma Research Repository and a

Trauma Clinical Trials Network.

1966“ The most significant

obstacle at present [to trauma research efforts] is the lack of long-term funding. Unpredictability of financial support hinders recruitment of competent scientists and technicians, retention of key personnel, and procurement of necessary equipment.”

Committee on Trauma and Committee on Shock, Division of Medical Sciences. Accidental death and disability: the neglected disease of modern society. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council; 1966.

1999“ The nation’s current

investment in injury research is not commensurate with the magnitude of the problem.”

Committee on Injury Prevention and Control, Institute of Medicine. Reducing the Burden of Injury: Advancing Prevention and Treatment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999.

2006“ The state of emergency care affects every American…Yet today, the emergency and trauma care that Americans receive can fall short of what they expect and deserve.”

Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System, Board on Health Care Services. Hospital- Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point. Washington, D.C.: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies; 2006.

2010“ No other ‘plague’ of this magnitude is tolerated in modern society.”

An Urgent Call to Action in Support of Injury Control Research Centers, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2010;39(1)89-92.

2016“ Current levels of investment in research to improve trauma care and rehabilitation are not commensurate with the societal burden of trauma. Although this has been known for decades, political and administrative barriers and the absence of effective advocacy groups perpetuate this unwise imbalance.”

A National Trauma Care System: Integrating Military and Civilian Trauma Systems to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths After Injury. Report of the Academy of Science, Engineering and Math - Committee on Military Trauma Care’s Learning Health System and Its Translation to the Civilian Sector, June 2016

CNTR GOALS

SECURE CONSISTENT AND SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR TRAUMATIC INJURY RESEARCH

CNTR successfully advocated for the first $10 million

Congressional appropriation for a National Trauma

Clinical Research Program.

BUILD A ROBUST TRAUMA RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

The National Trauma Institute, a CNTR member,

secured a $5 million contract for development of

the National Trauma Research Repository that will

increase access to and maximize use of research data.

DEVELOP A CENTRALIZED RESEARCH AGENDA

CNTR’s National Trauma Research Agenda Committee

produced a consensus research agenda document

for publication.

“Trauma research is vastly underfunded relative to the cost

to society of traumatic injuries.”National Reports Document 50 Years of Trauma Research Underfunding

— U.S. Representative Joaquín Castro

TNIH Funding for Medical Conditions Relative to their Disease Burden

Sources: Data from Moses et al., 2015. Created by Catherine A. Richards, Ph.D., M.P.H.

HIV/AIDS Cancer Diabetes mellitus

% of total funding >% of total burden

COPD

Ischemic Heart

Disease Injuries—TRAUMA

C O N D I T I O N

% of total funding <% of total burden

17

11

3210

-1-2-3

-11

PERCENT