News Release
June 16, 2025
Contact: Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1997
University of Pittsburgh’s Maya Ragavan Honored With 2025 Linda E. Saltzman New Investigator Award
The CDC Foundation, Futures Without Violence, and RALIANCE announced today that Maya Ragavan, MD, MPH, MS, a researcher and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, is the 2025 recipient of the Linda E. Saltzman New Investigator Award. The award recognizes an outstanding new investigator with two to ten years of experience working at the intersections of health, domestic and sexual violence, child trauma, and abuse.
Dr. Ragavan has conducted groundbreaking grant-funded research focused on supporting caregiver survivors of partner violence in pediatric health care settings, engaging caregivers in preventing dating violence, and removing language barriers. Her current projects include a clinical trial to test whether a doula trained in intimate partner violence can reduce perinatal abuse and the development of caregiver-adolescent dating violence prevention programs.
The Linda E. Saltzman New Investigator Award this year carries a $3,000 honorarium plus an additional $10,000 from the Saltzman family for Dr. Ragavan to use in support of her research in whatever way she chooses.
Dr. Ragavan sees patients as a general pediatrician and serves as the public policy and advocacy chair for the Academic Pediatric Association. She has more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and has spoken nationally on issues related to violence. She partners with communities in all her work and serves as the co-core director for the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute Community Engagement Core and co-faculty lead for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Community Alliance Program.
“As members of Dr. Linda Saltzman’s family, my sister Nancy Saltzman, my brother Andy Saltzman, Linda’s partner Charlie Weeks, and I all enthusiastically support the selection of Dr. Maya Ragavan as the recipient of the 7th Linda Saltzman New Investigator Award,” Robert M. Saltzman, Linda Saltzman’s brother, said. “Dr. Ragavan’s dedication to violence prevention, her record of extraordinary publications and national talks, and her many national leadership roles are reminiscent of Dr. Linda Saltzman’s strong professional record and career in violence prevention in general, and in intimate partner violence in particular. We look forward to seeing Dr. Ragavan’s future work in violence prevention and congratulate her on receiving this award in Linda’s honor.”
“We are thrilled that Maya Ragavan is receiving this prestigious honor this year,” FUTURES President Esta Soler added. “The kind of research Dr. Ragavan is conducting can be transformative. Her research holds the promise of saving lives and putting children on a path to a better future. We are so pleased to be able to provide this recognition and support.”
Linda Saltzman was a senior scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, from 1984 until she died in 2005. She connected research to policy and science to advocacy in ways that broke new ground, challenging the research community to explore violence and helping advocates base their work on science. Her work built understanding about the causes and consequences of domestic and sexual violence. Previous recipients of the award that carries her name:
- 2021 Awardee: Nkiru Nnawulezi, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- 2017 Awardee: Cynthia Fraga Rizo, PhD, MSW, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina School of Social Work
- 2015 Awardee: Jamila Stockman, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor and Vice Chief of Global Public Health, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Director, Disparities Core, Center for AIDS Research
- 2012 Recipient: Emily Rothman, ScD, Professor, Boston University School of Public Health
- 2009 Recipient: Kathryn Laughon, PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing, Virginia School of Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar
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The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the public health system save and improve lives by unleashing the power of partnerships to protect communities, everywhere. It is an independent nonprofit created by Congress to establish philanthropic and private-sector partnerships to improve the public’s health and safety.
For more than 35 years, Futures Without Violence has been providing groundbreaking programs, policies and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children around the world. Striving to reach new audiences and transform social norms, FUTURES trains professionals such as doctors, nurses, judges and athletic coaches on improving responses to violence and abuse. FUTURES also works with advocates, policymakers and others to build sustainable community leadership and educate people everywhere about the importance of respect and healthy relationships.
RALIANCE is a national partnership dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation. RALIANCE partners with a wide range of organizations to improve their cultures and create environments free from sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse. Every day, RALIANCE helps leaders establish safe workplaces and strong communities by advancing research, influencing policy, and supporting innovative programs. RALIANCE is based in Washington, DC.
