Dr. Joseph L. Wright, Leader in Advocacy and Health Equity, Honored at International Gathering of Child Safety Professionals

Renowned Pediatrician Receives Prestigious C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction for Commitment to Protecting Kids from Preventable Injuries, the Leading Cause of Death among Children in the U.S.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Joseph L. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), was awarded the C. Everett Koop Medal of Distinction today for his outstanding work on children's health advocacy and injury prevention.

The honor was presented at the Safe Kids Worldwide Childhood Injury Prevention Convention, (PrevCon), the world's largest gathering dedicated to preventing childhood injuries. The three-day conference brought together experts, advocates, manufacturers, researchers, and policymakers to share strategies and to forge partnerships focused on improving child safety and reducing the risk of preventable injuries to kids. The C. Everett Koop Award is named for the former U.S. surgeon general and founding chairman of Safe Kids Worldwide, who was a pioneer in the field of child safety.

"For almost four decades, Dr. Wright has been one of the most influential voices for promoting advocacy, access, and research in the pediatric and injury prevention communities," said Michelle Riley-Brown, president and chief executive officer of Children's National Hospital, who presented the medal to Dr. Wright. "Dr. Wright is the embodiment of Dr. Koop's legacy of fighting for all children in all communities and truly making a difference."

Torine Creppy, president of Safe Kids Worldwide, said: "We are honored to work with such a visionary leader and are humbled to recognize him for his dedication, intelligence, vision, and his passion on behalf of children everywhere."

Since assuming his AAP post in 2023, Dr. Wright has overseen and implemented a national strategy to promote and achieve health equity for children. Prior to that, he served as a Chief Medical Officer within the University of Maryland Medical System and Chair of Pediatrics at the Howard University College of Medicine. He also spent more than two decades in progressive leadership roles at Children's National Hospital, in Washington D.C., where he launched the Child Health Advocacy Institute, the nation's first such unit based in an academic medical center. He also served for 17 years as the inaugural State EMS Medical Director for Pediatrics within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.

An adjunct professor of emergency medicine and health policy at the George Washington University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Wright is among the nation's original cohort of board-certified pediatric emergency physicians. Academically, he has contributed more than 120 publications to the scholarly literature and has been inducted into the Academy of Medicine of Washington, as well as into Delta Omega, the nation's public health honor society.

Dr. Wright previously served as an appointee to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's National EMS Advisory Council, the Food and Drug Administration's Pediatric Advisory Committee. He has regularly been invited to testify before the U.S. Congress, and state and municipal legislative bodies on behalf of child safety and well-being. He has been recognized with three career achievement awards by the AAP for accomplishments in injury prevention, humanitarianism, and emergency medicine, and is recipient of the Terrapin and Spirit of GW Awards, the highest honors for professional contributions bestowed, respectively, by the University of Maryland School of Public Health and the George Washington University.

Dr. Wright holds a Bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University; a Doctor of Medicine degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School; and a Master of Public Health from George Washington University. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Dr. Wright served in the Public Health Service as a primary care pediatrician in his old neighborhood during Dr. Koop's 2^nd term as the U.S. Surgeon General. He considers this foundational community-based experience be the guiding professional touchstone of his career.

"I am honored to receive this recognition from Safe Kids Worldwide, which has done—and continues to do—remarkable work toward reducing the rate of preventable injuries and deaths among children," said Dr. Wright. "Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and almost every one of these tragedies is preventable. Only through sustained efforts and meaningful collaborations and partnership will be able to further reduce disparities in child safety and ensure optimal care for all children and all families everywhere."

ABOUT SAFE KIDS WORLDWIDE
Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to reduce preventable injuries to children ages 0-19 and to build sustainable systems that support injury prevention. Since 1988, Safe Kids and its partners have contributed to a more than 60 percent reduction in the rate of fatal childhood injury in the U.S. Learn more at safekids.org.

SOURCE Safe Kids Worldwide