Trauma and injury encompass one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. Developing countries, where financial and medical resources are sorely lacking, bear the greater proportion of the burden of injuries. Injuries can be unintentional, such as traffic accidents, burns, falls and poisonings, or intentional, resulting from deliberate acts of violence against oneself or others. Environmental injury can be caused by pollution (including indoor air pollution), water contamination, poisoning and other sources. Occupational injury and trauma can result from industrial accidents and farm injuries. Workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) carry a disproportionate burden of the worldwide occupational injury and illness.
Fogarty's International Collaborative Trauma and Injury Research Training Program awards grants to conduct research training on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of injury and trauma in LMICs. Fogarty's Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) program, co-sponsored by the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), supports trauma and injury research and training in the areas of environmental and occupational injury.
Across the NIH, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supports a Traumatic Stress Research Program, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) supports Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Research.