SAVIR Announces 2025 Safe Kids Worldwide–SAVIR Injury Prevention Scholarship Winner

At SAVIR 2025, Safe Kids Worldwide and SAVIR announced a partnership to support emerging researchers in the field of childhood unintentional injury prevention. We are happy to announce our inaugural recipient, Amir Ghanbari. We are so grateful for this partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide to support the future of injury prevention science.

Why did Safe Kids Worldwide want to partner with SAVIR in offering this scholarship opportunity? What are you hoping will come from this wonderful opportunity, and what did you find exciting about Amir’s project?

In attending recent SAVIR conferences, we noticed that child unintentional injury prevention research has been underrepresented compared to other topics. At the same time, we recognize that researchers often have to “follow the money” in pursuing funded projects. The Safe Kids Worldwide-SAVIR Scholarship for Unintentional Childhood Injury Research is our way of encouraging the type of research we hope to see more of at SAVIR in the future, while also helping to strengthen the field by providing early support to emerging professionals.

We are especially excited about Amir’s study, which examines risk factors for bicycling-related injuries in youth that differ between urban and rural settings, including focusing on how individual psychological and behavioral traits that influence adolescent decision-making may play a role. His proposed work not only addresses important knowledge gaps but also highlights rural contexts, where disparities in childhood injury are especially pronounced. We hope his research will help inform future interventions that prioritize context-specific infrastructure design, targeted safety education, and developmentally appropriate, behavior-informed strategies to reduce bicycling injuries among adolescents.

Morag MacKay, Chief Research and Network Officer, Safe Kids Worldwide