05/25/2021

Tributes to Injury Prevention Leader Dinesh Mohan from Past Presidents of SAVIR

Dinesh Mohan, a leader in the field of injury prevention, passed away on May 21. Read his obituary and tributes to him below from SAVIR Past Presidents Frederick Rivara and Linda Degutis.

This week we saw the loss of one of the giants of injury control research. Dinesh Mohan passed away on May 21st at age 85. Dinesh trained as an engineer and worked at the University of Michigan and then the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. He moved to India in 1979 where he was on the faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. Dinesh published studies on the biomechanics of injuries and the effect of prevention mechanism such as helmets. He published extensively and was a figure in the World Conferences on Injury Control. However, much more important I think was his work in promoting injury prevention in India and around the world. He was very involved with looking at the safety of the ubiquitous three wheeled taxis in India and worked hard to make them safer. He worked to bring attention to the very large problem of burn injuries particularly in low-and-middle income countries where the case fatality rate is much higher and regional burn care is less available.

Dinesh in many ways was the conscience of those working in the field of injury control. Always dressed in native Indian clothing, Dinesh made those of us working in high-income countries pay attention to the global burden of injuries and the impact upon people in low-and-middle income countries. His enthusiasm, warmth, sense of humor and commitment to making the world safer will be missed.

Frederick P. Rivara, MD, MPH

Past President, SAVIR

We are shocked and saddened to learn of the death of Dinesh Mohan, an internationally renowned and leading expert on traffic safety issues, a valued colleague and mentor, a visionary leader and researcher, and a friend to so many in the injury field. His influence on the field has been felt widely for many years, through his research and teaching, his advocacy for road safety, and the ongoing World Conferences on injury, which he co-founded.

Dinesh advanced the design of motorcycle helmets, advocated for many road safety interventions that ranged from passenger protections through policy, the crashworthiness of motor vehicles, safer truck designs. His research focused on product design, the tolerance to injury of human soft tissues, childhood head injury criteria and policy influencing safe sharing of roadways.

As many of you may know, Dinesh received his Bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, and studied at the University of Delaware in mechanical and aerospace engineering before entering the PhD program in bioengineering at the University of Michigan, where he worked at the Highway Safety Research Institute (now the U of M Transportation Research Institute). He became a senior bioengineer with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Washington D.C., which was led by Dr. William Haddon, who had a tremendous influence over him. He also worked closely with Brian O’Neill, Allan Williams and Leon Robertson. While at IIHS, Dinesh conducted the first real-world assessment of airbag effectiveness in frontal crashes of General Motors cars, and also studied child restraints.

Dinesh moved to India in 1979 to join the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and served in numerous positions there through 2015, including head of the W.H.O. Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Safety Technology from 1991-2010. He authored numerous publications and was a key speaker at conferences around the globe. In addition to his work in injury prevention, Dinesh was actively involved in the human rights movement in India. At the time of his death, he was an honorary faculty member at IIT Delhi.

Our thoughts are with Dinesh’s wife, family, friends and colleagues. We have lost a valued colleague, mentor and friend, but his work and his commitment to it will continue to serve as a basis for so much of what we do. We will miss Dinesh as we recall his influence on our work and our lives, and will honor his memory through our work.

Linda Degutis, DrPH, MSN

Past President, SAVIR