Federal research priorities in child abuse and neglect research: A commentary on multi-site research networks.

The National Institutes of Health has a long history of supporting investigator initiated child abuse research, including risk-factor studies on prevalence, course and consequences of child abuse and neglect. These studies laid the ground work for prevention research as well as the development and testing of therapeutic interventions. The newly established Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development represents a new opportunity to call attention to the need for greater collaboration among researchers to build on prior work, pursue complex lines of inquiry, address more medically focused research and new clinical questions that will heighten the awareness of the unique needs for treatment and care of abused children.