FOR PERSONAL, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY
Press Release
June 24, 2002

Chicago Pediatrician Honored For Pioneering
Work To Reduce Gun Injury

Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, MD, MPH, first physician to receive Abraham Lincoln Award

Chicago, June 24 -- Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, MD, MPH, a pediatrician, educator, researcher and nationally recognized expert on childhood injury prevention, has been chosen to receive the prestigious Abraham Lincoln Award. The award is being presented to Dr. Christoffel by the Illinois
Council Against Handgun Violence, for her outstanding work to reduce the US epidemic of gun violence.

"When I began my career in pediatrics, I expected things like polio and diphtheria to be the greatest threats to our children. I have never seen a new case of either of these diseases. Instead, gunshot wounds have become a leading killer of our youth and a major focus of my professional life,"
said Dr. Christoffel.

A professor of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Christoffel is also Interim Co-Director of the Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research and an attending pediatrician at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
In 1993, she founded the Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan (HELP) Network in an effort to educate and mobilize the medical and public health communities in order to strengthen gun injury prevention.

"Dr. Christoffel has spurred the gun violence prevention movement by providing a platform and strong, credible voice to those who see the horrors of this epidemic firsthand - our medical professionals," said Thom Mannard, Executive Director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

Dr. Christoffel travels nationally and internationally speaking on issues of gun injury prevention.

"I see gun violence as an epidemic that requires a comprehensive public health-based solution. This means we must research and clearly define the problem; develop, implement and evaluate prevention programs and generate public commitment for change. We have seen this type of approach successfully reduce motor vehicle deaths and eradicate a number of infectious diseases." Said Dr. Christoffel. "There is much we can and must do to reduce gun deaths and injuries."

Dr. Christoffel received her BA from Radcliffe College, her MD from Tufts University and her MPH from Northwestern University.

Past recipients of the award have included US Senators, and Representatives, Jim Brady, Mayor Daley and President Bill Clinton.


To make reservations for the Abraham Lincoln Awards Luncheon on June 25th, please contact Thom Mannard with Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence at 312-341-0939.

For more information, please contact:

Jaime Smith or
Elizabeth Crown
Communications Coordinator Sr.
Health Sciences Editor
The HELP Network Northwestern
University
773-880-8122
312-503-8928