Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Please click below to learn more about some of our ACEs projects.
PI: Lisa Roth
University of Iowa, College of Public Health
Injury Prevention Research Center
Funding Source: CDC/NCIPC
The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) provides states and communities with a clearer understanding of violent deaths to guide local decisions about efforts to prevent violence and track progress over time. NVDRS is the only state-based surveillance (reporting) system that pools data on violent deaths from multiple sources into a usable, anonymous database. These sources include state and local medical examiner, coroner, law enforcement, toxicology, and vital statistics records. NVDRS covers all types of violent deaths—including homicides and suicides—in all settings and for all age groups. NVDRS may include data on mental health problems; recent problems with a job, finances, or relationships; physical health problems; and information about circumstances of death. Such data is far more comprehensive than what is available elsewhere. Click here to read more about the Iowa Violent Death Reporting System IAVDRS.
PI: Aislinn Conrad-Hiebner, University of Iowa, School of Social Work
Funding Source: UI IPRC Pilot Grant Program
PI: Robyn Espinosa, PhD candidate, Occupational & Environmental Health
Funding Source: UI IPRC Pilot Grant Program
The UI IPRC supports statewide efforts to build resilience and reduce health impacts from ACEs—traumatic events that can dramatically upset a child’s sense of safety and well-being. Our role is to bridge science and practice to prioritize research questions and prevention activities, advance theories and practices, and measure the extent of ACEs.
We partner on the following ACEs activities in Iowa:
The UI Promote Resiliency Initiative aims to increase education, research, and awareness of ACEs on campus. The UI now offers a new undergraduate Certificate in Resilience and Trauma-Informed Perspectives.
The IPRC and the UI Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (our CTSA) convened the first statewide ACEs meeting in 2014 to bring researchers and practitioners together to share best practices. Based on the success of this meeting, an annual statewide stakeholder meeting was launched to identify statewide program and policy priorities around ACEs.
See executive summary Beyond ACEs: Building Hope & Resiliency in Iowa.
See 2020 ACEs report: Healing Iowa
Read our blog post: Linking school children with trauma to care
Read our blog post: Addressing childhood trauma: An interview with Iowa ACEs 360
Read our blog post: Adversity’s effect on heart health and biological aging
Read our blog post: Preparing students to address trauma in their future professions
See research highlights from the UI Public Policy Center: A legacy of love during troubled times and Seeing childhood through rose-tinted glasses
