Abraham B. Bergman, M.D.
University of Washington
Box 359774
325 9th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98112
Phone: 206-731-5424
Fax: 206-731-8610
Dr. Abraham Bergman is chief of pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center and professor of pediatrics in the University of Washington School of Medicine where he has been since joining the UW faculty in 1964. He was graduated from Reed College in Portland in 1954 and received his medical degree from Western Reserve university in 1958. For 19 years he was director of outpatient services at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center prior to becoming the chief of pediatrics at Harborview.
For over 30 years he has been an active practitioner of what he call "political medicine", defined as using the political process to improve the public’s health. On a national level he worked closely with former Senator Warren G. Manguson in the fields of consumer protection, child accident prevention and health legislation. His activities in this area resulted in several important pieces of health legislation including the passage of the Flammable Fabrics Act in 1967, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970, the National Health Service Corps in 1972, and the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Act of 1974. He is the author of a book on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, The "Discovery" of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Lessons in the Practice of Political Medicine, published by Praeger in 1986 and reprinted by the University of Washington press in 1988.
In 1985, Dr. Bergman founded the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center (HIPRC) where he currently serves as the head of the prevention and health promotion section. The HIPRC is one of the 10 injury-control centers supported by the Centers for Disease Control. It is devoted to research, education and prevention programs aimed at diminishing the personal impact of trauma and broadening the effectiveness of injury prevention and trauma treatment programs regionally and nationwide. This has led to involvement in a variety of injury prevention issues including motorcycle and bicycle helmet usage, drunken driving and pedestrian safety.