Rate My Professor Susan Gallagher

Gallagher's research specializations encompass health communication, injury and violence prevention—including child and adolescent injury prevention, agricultural safety, traffic safety, and advocacy—as well as data collection, quantitative and qualitative analysis, content analysis, participant observation, and project management. She has authored or co-authored over 52 publications, amassing more than 2,073 citations. Notable works include her book Injury Prevention and Public Health: Practical Knowledge, Skills, and Strategies (2006, Jones & Bartlett Learning), "Career Paths of Recipients of a Master's Degree in Health Communication: Understanding Employment Opportunities, Responsibilities, and Choices" (2016), "Results From a National Survey of Health Communication Master's Degree Recipients: An Exploration of Training, Placement, Satisfaction, and Success" (2015), "Using the Socio-Ecological Model to Frame Agricultural Safety and Health Interventions" (2017), and "Advocacy: Translating injury research into policy" (2013). Her career highlights include Founding Director of the Statewide Comprehensive Injury Prevention Program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, co-founder of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and the international journal Injury Prevention, and Distinguished Scholar and Senior Scientist at Education Development Center, Inc. She also held an appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Gallagher's major honors include the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship in 2003, during which she worked in U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's office, past chair of the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the American Public Health Association, and recognition as a Distinguished Alumna of Boston University School of Public Health. Her impact on the field is profound: she played a central role in developing standards for state-level injury prevention programs, co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, served on the National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine committee producing the report Reducing the Burden of Injury, and developed technical assistance products and training initiatives for practitioners in residential, school, health, day care, and public health agency settings.