Edwin A. Deitch, MD, professor and chair, Department of Surgery, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, and chief of surgery at UMDNJ-University Hospital, and David H. Livingston, MD, Wesley J. Howe Professor and chief of trauma surgery, Division of Trauma and Critical Care, Department of Surgery, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, director, New Jersey Trauma Center, UMDNJ-University Hospital

Trauma is the leading cause of death in persons under the age of 45. Because it disproportionately affects the young, trauma results in more years of productive life lost (defined as the difference in age from the time of death to age 65) than heart disease, cancer and neurological diseases combined. Society at large is also profoundly affected by injuries, with the financial cost estimated at more than $224 billion each year. These costs include direct medical care, rehabilitation and lost wages and productivity. The burden of injury is borne by everyone, with federal, state and local governments paying more than $60 billion each year in injury-related medical costs and death and disability benefits. Despite this profound economic and public health effect, federal research funding of injury prevention, acute care and rehabilitation has been only 20 percent of that for cancer or atherosclerotic disease. Potential reasons for the inadequate support have been the lack of understanding of injury as a public health problem, the abundance of types of injuries compared to a single disease process such as heart disease or cancer, a young, non-voting, demographic patient population and a belief that trauma will occur to "someone else."

UMDNJ is unique. Its faculty forms a single healthcare university that staffs all three Level I trauma centers in New Jersey: UMDNJ-University Hospital in Newark, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center in Camden. Together, these three institutions account for more than half of all trauma center admissions in New Jersey. Taking advantage of the small geographic size of the state, the large number of patients and the rich academic affiliations has allowed the University to become a leader in innovative trauma research. Numerous investigators on all UMDNJ campuses benefit from this academically conducive environment, and are poised to bring new approaches and therapies to one of our most pressing public health issues. §