Research
creating knowledge to keep you safe
We create knowledge to keep you safe in your home, on the road, in your workplace, and in your community.
CDC Injury Control Research Center (ICRC)
As an ICRC, we are on the scientific frontline conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research on the causes, outcomes, and prevention of injuries and violence.
Our research focuses on issues of local and national importance including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), drug overdose, firearms safety, intimate partner violence, older adult falls, road safety, suicide, and trauma care.
As a rural institution, we focus on the understudied area of rural injury and violence, but conduct research locally, nationally, and internationally to address injury and violence among all populations. Our research informs solutions to reduce traumatic injuries and death and works towards closing equity gaps in rural populations, including racial/ethnic minorities, indigenous populations, and veterans living in rural communities.
Our research ranges in size from small one-year projects to large multi-year studies. Research funding comes from a variety of sources including university programs, state and federal agencies, and foundations.
Our research methods
- Epidemiology
- Evaluation
- Innovative technology
- Intervention and clinical trials
- Policy research
- Implementation science
- Translation (research to practice)
Our current ICRC CDC-funded research projects
- Adverse childhood experiences and accelerated epigenetic aging in adulthood: A longitudinal investigation of resilience among low-income Black Americans (Mark Berg, Sociology and Criminology/ UI Public Policy Center, Project Lead)
- Dual injury epidemics in the United States: Examining the pattern, cause, and consequence of emergent racial disparities in overdose and suicide among rural populations (Jonathan Platt, Epidemiology, Project Lead)
- A statewide evaluation of emergency departments’ treatment capacity and management of substance use disorders (Priyanka Vakkalanka, Emergency Medicine, Project Lead)
- Translational research to refer rural older adults to evidence-based falls prevention programs (Carri Casteel, Occupational and Environmental Health) and Sato Ashida, Community and Behavioral Health, Project Co-leads)
Research and Action Practice Teams (RPATs)
Our Research and Practice Action Teams (RPATs) are topical areas of focus.
Pilot grant program
Our pilot grant program provides initial support for young investigators or investigators new to the injury prevention field. Typical awards are up to $22,500 for one-year projects.
For information about research, contact Kari Harland.