Deirdre O’Donnell
Manager, Violence and Injury Prevention Program, Rhode Island Department of Health
2024
Deirdre O’Donnell is a passionate public health professional and educator with a proven track record in translating social and behavioral science research into strategies and interventions that improve population health and well-being. She has been working in the field for over a decade in various violence and injury prevention initiatives including suicide, intimate partner violence, overdose, rape and sexual assault, and bullying/hate crimes. Ms. O’Donnell is the Violence and Injury Prevention Program Manager for the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). Her expertise is in using data driven and evidence-informed strategies to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors that help individuals improve their social determinants of health and empower them to prevent violence & injury throughout the life course.
This cannot be thought of as a conference or a summit. The stakes are simply too high and the data/conversation and methods to drive action more valuable/motivating than any gathering I have attended. I took more than 100 pages of notes and have shared them with my CBS News leadership team, anchors, producers, and correspondents. Nothing about this gathering was easy. The agony around this topic is real. But no one curious about it could ask for a more devoted, rational, or unflinching look into this dark but decipherable world.
