Senior Director for Scientific Programs, Division of Violence Prevention

CDC role

Thomas R. Simon, PhD, is the senior director for scientific programs in the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the CDC Injury Center. As the senior director for scientific programs, he provides leadership, planning, and guidance to division management and staff on scientific policy, research methodology, and priorities for research activities.

Areas of expertise

• Adverse childhood experiences
• Youth violence prevention
• School violence prevention
• Firearm violence and injury prevention
• Violence surveillance
• Public health burden of violence

Education

Dr. Simon received a PhD degree in preventive medicine from the University of Southern California’s School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Simon started at CDC as a Preventive Medicine Fellow in 1996. During his career at CDC, Dr. Simon has served as a scientific advisor on multiple etiological studies and longitudinal evaluations of violence prevention programs.