Dr. Kimberly Thompson created Kid Risk, Inc. as a non-profit organization to continue the mission of the Kids Risk Project, which she created and directed at the Harvard School of Public Health between January 2000 and January 2009. Kid Risk, Inc was formed and shall be operated exclusively for the following research, charitable, and educational purposes: (a) to develop the field of pediatric risk analysis; (b) to empower children, parents, policy makers, and others to improve children’s lives, (c) to inform decisions related to the management of children’s risks, (d) to promote children’s health and well-being, and (e) to engage in any related charitable activities as are necessary or appropriate and which are not inconsistent with the status of the corporation as a Massachusetts non-profit corporation and as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Kid Risk, Inc. currently focuses its research on managing the risks associated with polioviruses with funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Our prior research shows the enormous benefits of historical polio vaccination in the U.S. and that investment in public health saves lives and money. One of our current projects seeks to characterize the costs and benefits of historical global polio vaccination efforts. As part of this project, we are requesting information from national Ministers of Health and global polio experts using a survey. You can learn more about polio, the risks, costs, and benefits of possible future global policies for managing polioviruses, and the need for global cooperation on developing a global vaccine stockpile and coordinated cessation of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). The System Dynamics Society recognized our research on polio eradication vs. control with its 2008 Jay Wright Forrester Award (read our paper related to the award). Kid Risk, Inc. is pleased to welcome Radboud J. Duintjer Tebbens, Ph.D. back to Boston as Vice President and Dr. Jong-Hoon Kim as a post-doc.
Although our research currently focuses on managing polio, during the past year we broadened our scope to include efforts related to cholera vaccines and measles eradication. Dr. Thompson also weighed in and provided a public health perspective on the Pampers Dry Max diaper rash "scare", and we are beginning new collaborations related to injury prevention and nutrition.
Collaborators in current Kid Risk, Inc. research include:
Kid Risk, Inc. gratefully thanks Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott for generously donating office space to support our work. The next time you are in Boston, please come visit us in our LEED-certified, fabulous office on the 11th floor of the World Trade Center East building, and join us in appreciating one of the many amazing spaces created by Shepley Bulfinch.
Kid Risk, Inc. thanks Jean Claude Kadjo and Trey Tepichin for assistance with French and Spanish translations. Please contact Dr. Thompson with questions or comments, or to discuss your ideas for creating solutions in this Age of Risk Management.