Development and Early Experience of a US-Based Pediatric Disaster Science Research Training Program

Introduction: Children are often overlooked in disaster planning and response. Children are particularly vulnerable in a disaster, and their outcomes may be quite different from adults. Pediatric disaster research faces significant challenges in methodology and infrastructure, often relying on limited, non-representative, and non-generalizable data. To advance this field, there is a critical need to train future disaster scientists who can develop research-informed solutions that advance the entire spectrum of the disaster cycle. We developed a curriculum that responds to the need to increase the number of professionals trained to perform pediatric disaster science research. This program was developed in collaboration with the HRSA-funded Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN). Methods: A consensus-driven pediatric disaster medicine research curriculum was developed using expertise from the PPN. Pediatric disaster medicine experts agreed to lead educational sessions in conjunction with program faculty. A diverse group of participants was recruited for the 2024 cohort to spend 10% of their time attending interactive Zoom educational sessions, individual mentoring sessions, developing a capstone project, and attending the PPN annual meeting to meet potential national mentors. Results: Eighteen applicants were accepted from 15 different states. 1/3rd of applicants were underrepresented in medicine. Accepted scholars represented emergency medicine, critical care medicine, surgery, hospital medicine, and epidemiology. We included a feedback loop in our curriculum that led to the addition of an implementation science session, analysis of an early-stage investigator’s disaster-specific grant proposals, sessions on QI, health services research, and other topics using disaster science research examples. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this disaster science research training program is the first of its kind in the US. To increase sustainability, we have submitted an NIH application to continue to fund this program from 2026-2031.