Margaret Peden

My work focuses on how to prevent unintentional injuries, particularly in resource-strapped countries. There are plenty of interventions that could save lives. Road injuries are the biggest issue, but drowning and falls are also significant problems. I’m going to be conducting research on what works, specifically in developing countries. We’ll be providing evidence on how to prevent injuries before they happen. But we also hope to look at the post-crash phase, working with nurses – who are the mainstay of healthcare provision in developing countries – to provide optimum treatment management. In some developing countries, traumatic injuries account for up to 70%-80% of the caseloads in emergency rooms. If you can stop these injuries upstream, there are enormous gains for healthcare systems, both financially and in terms of workforce needs.

Prior to working at the George Institute, I was a nurse and an epidemiologist. I worked in a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa for many years before I moved to the National Trauma Research Programme at the South African Medical Research Council. After that I was at the World Health Organization for 17 years, coordinating the Unintentional Injury Prevention unit.