The UI IPRC collaborates with faculty throughout the College of Public Health, including:
Shoshannah Eggers, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
What are your areas of research? My research focuses on how environmental exposures shape the gut microbiome and influence brain and behavioral outcomes. I’m especially interested in how the microbiome may affect cognitive processes like executive function and decision making, which can in turn influence real-world behaviors related to safety and risk.
How did you get involved in injury prevention research / How have you worked with the IPRC? I became involved in injury prevention research through my collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth O’Neal, on an IPRC funded pilot project exploring how gut microbiome composition relates to decision making in pedestrian road-crossing scenarios. This interdisciplinary project connects environmental and microbial epidemiology with injury science, aiming to better understand biological factors that contribute to safe or risky behavior.
What is something that you like about the injury field? I appreciate that injury prevention research looks beyond individual choices to consider the biological, environmental, and social contexts that shape behavior. That systems-level approach aligns closely with my work on how environmental exposures and the microbiome interact to influence brain function and health.
What is one way you promote injury prevention in your daily life? I’m a big proponent of helmet use. I always wear one when biking, and I recently got a helmet for my one-year-old to wear in our bike trailer so we can safely enjoy rides together.
Joe Cavanaugh, Professor and Head, Department of Biostatistics
What are your areas of research? Academic biostatisticians generally delineate their research areas in terms of their disciplinary methodological interests and their interdisciplinary applied interests. My methodological research areas primarily focus on model selection and time series analysis. My applied research areas focus on injury prevention, infectious diseases, and disease surveillance.
How did you get involved in injury prevention research / How have you worked with the IPRC? I joined the faculty of the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Iowa in 2003, having previously worked for the Department of Statistics at the University of Missouri. Craig Zwerling, who was Director of the IPRC at the time, and Cori-Peek Asa, who would later become the Director, noticed on my CV that I had been involved in a large-scale study to investigate the efficacy of the trauma system in the state of Missouri. They invited me to lunch to discuss shared research interests. Afterwards, Cori asked me to join the IPRC as a faculty biostatistician. I’ve been affiliated with the Center ever since that time! Thus, in total, I’ve worked with the IPRC for about 20 years.
What is something that you like about the injury field? The field of injury prevention is very diverse, and interfaces with such a broad array of disciplines. Also, through my role in the IPRC, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with so many brilliant scientists, including Cori Peek-Asa, Marizen Ramirez, Carri Casteel, and Cara Hamann. The work is very fulfilling, since the overarching goal is to create safer, more secure environments where people are less prone to be seriously injured.
What is one way you promote injury prevention in your daily life? My work with the IPRC has made me more cognizant of settings and scenarios that could lead to injury. For instance, I’ve become a very cautious and defensive driver. I never text when I’m driving, and if I notice another driver engaging in such behaviors, I steer clear of them. I drive at a safe speed, avoid driving in inclement weather, and keep my vehicles well-maintained.
Elizabeth O’Neal, Assistant Professor, Department of Community and Behavioral Health
What are your areas of research? My research primarily focuses on how development across the lifespan impacts injury risk among vulnerable road users. Ongoing projects include a randomized control trial examining the impact of a parent-focused teen driving intervention on novice teen drivers’ hazard anticipation skills, the role of the gut microbiome on older adults’ pedestrian injury risk, and how parents’ own risk taking may influence children’s own road crossing skills.
How did you get involved in injury prevention research / How have you worked with the IPRC? The IPRC has been hugely influential in both my training and research throughout my time as a graduate student, postdoc, and now as an assistant professor. The IPRC broadened my understanding of injury prevention, provided a home through which I could engage with collaborators, and supported many research projects both financially and intellectually.
What is something that you like about the injury field? I love that the injury field is so diverse. It really does take a village to address complex problems like injury prevention, and having input from so many disciplines and perspectives strengthens the work that we do.
What is one way you promote injury prevention in your daily life? I like to make people aware of the simple changes they can make to prevention injury. For example, talk to your child about how and when you are making your decision to cross the street.
Jonathan Davis, Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
What are your areas of research? I research falls, motor vehicle collisions, and suicide prevention.
How did you get involved in injury prevention research / How have you worked with the IPRC? I first worked with IPRC as a PhD student. It was my first exposure to injury related research. Now, as a faculty member associated with the Center, I help students research a variety of injury-related topics.
What is something that you like about the injury field? Injuries, unfortunately, are not an uncommon occurrence. There is so much that can be done in injury prevention to feel like you are making a lasting impact on public health.
What is one way you promote injury prevention in your daily life? I think people fail to appreciate how dangerous day-to-day driving is. I am hyper aware of pedestrians, avoid driving in hazardous condition, and don’t speed.
