- 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 center 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 center has been managed by Professor N. Speybroeck.