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Susan P. Baker, 2010 Calderone Prize Recipient

This May, Dean Linda P. Fried presented the 2010 Frank A. Calderone Prize in Public Health to a true pioneer: Susan P. Baker, professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who created the science of injury prevention and, through scientific rigor and vision, has saved countless lives.

The power of Prof. Baker’s research and advocacy was affirmed in the warm formal responses of New York State’s two major public health officers, Commissioner Thomas Farley of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Commissioner Richard Daines of the New York State Department of Health.

As Prof. Baker noted in her lecture, when she first applied scientific methods to the dire statistics of motor vehicle passenger death and injury in the early 1970s, a senior colleague asked, “But is that public health?” Today injury prevention in cars, including child safety seats and drunk driving laws, is core to public health, and we have Susan P. Baker to thank for compelling legislatures and public health authorities across the nation and internationally to take action. It is a testimony to Prof. Baker’s influence on automobile-safety practices that, even as vehicle miles driven have almost doubled since the mid-1970’s, motor vehicle-related deaths have continuously declined.

Commissioner Farley, a member of the Mailman School Board of Overseers and leader of New York City’s exceptional public health initiatives, noted in his remarks at the award ceremony that Professor Baker “has applied tried and true public health methods to preventing injuries.” Today, injury prevention is a central program for his department.

New Frontiers

Prof. Baker remains a restless scientist, continuing to press for solutions that will protect the neglected groups of society. Her focus now includes water safety for those most at risk of drowning: toddlers and young males. She also announced at the ceremony that she will distribute her award to three researchers who are addressing the health and safety of Native Americans. Prof. Baker finds this population particularly vulnerable, with a tragically high rate of injury. In fact, Native Americans experience twice the motor vehicle death rate of other Americans.

As Francesca Calderone-Steichen noted in presenting the Prize, her family is proud to recognize transformational work in public health. Susan P. Baker has lived a life of transformational impact, and it is our privilege to honor her with the most significant prize in the field of public health.

(left to right) Francesca Calderone-Steichen, Susan Baker, and Dr. Linda P. Fried

Full text of Prof. Baker’s lecture.