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University of Iowa News Release
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Aug. 15, 2007 UI Center Awarded $4.5 Million For Injury Prevention From motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers, to recovery from athletic injuries and preventing domestic violence, researchers at the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC) address many of Iowa's most crucial safety issues. In August, the IPRC received a five-year, $4.5 million grant from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to continue its research into the prevention and control of injuries. The IPRC brings together 39 researchers and a wide network of community and government partners.
IPRC researchers are working on a wide variety of topics, including college athletes' recovery from injuries and children's decision-making when crossing intersections on bicycles. The bicycling project makes use of the country's only interactive bicycling simulator. The impact of court-ordered educational programs for batterers on subsequent domestic abuse offenses is being assessed statewide. Another study of intimate partner violence is focused on women residing in rural areas, which is particularly significant because "rural women have been the subject of such research much less often than urban women," Peek-Asa said. Another research team is evaluating whether a video monitoring system installed in the vehicles of newly licensed 14-year-old drivers can help reduce driver errors. Video segments of a driver's positive and negative safety behaviors are recorded for viewing by parents as well as teen drivers. Besides supporting research, the IPRC serves as a resource for injury prevention and control advocates and for policymakers. The center co-sponsors an annual conference on Iowa Child and Youth Injury Prevention, which this year will be held Sept. 18 in Des Moines. Located in the UI College of Public Health, the IPRC was established in 1990. It is one of 12 similar centers across the country, funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. For more information about the IPRC and its projects, visit http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/iprc/. STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa College of Public Health Office of Communications, 4257 Westlawn, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 MEDIA CONTACT: Debra Venzke, 319-335-9647, debra-venzke@uiowa.edu; Writer: Brandy Huseman. PHOTOS: A web-quality photo of Corinne Peek-Asa is available at http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/academics/faculty/corinne_peek-asa.html
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Corinne Peek-Asa (left), Ph.D., director of the IPRC and UI professor of occupational and environmental health, said that a particular strength of the center is its interdisciplinary makeup. "IPRC investigators come from numerous external collaborators and 16 university departments, including community and behavioral health, social work, mechanical engineering and psychology," she said. "It takes a multidisciplinary team to find solutions to problems in the injury prevention field, and with this funding we can continue to make an impact."