Founded in 1973 within the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), located on the campus of Brussels (Belgium), by Professor Michel F. Lechat, a renowned epidemiologist
CRED has been initially implemented to measure the health impact of disasters on the population
The centre has been managed by Professor C. de Ville de Goyet until 1977, followed by Professor Michel F. Lechat.
In the 1980s, CRED became a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating center
Professor D. Guha Sapir became the director of CRED in 1992.
Since 2021, the centre has been managed by Professor N. Speybroeck.